Our Mission

Kathy Waller is the Executive Director for the Atlanta Committee for Progress. The ACP was founded in 2003 and their mission is to provide leadership on the key issues important to economic growth and inclusion for all citizens in the City of Atlanta. The committee includes more than forty highly engaged chief executive officers, university presidents and civic leaders who offer expertise in service to Atlanta and its future development.

Kathy has over 35 years of broad financial and operational leadership experience within the consumer and retail sectors. She has a proven track record of success in driving transformations, delivering strong financial performance, and forming strong relationships with investors and industry analysts. She has extensive knowledge across all areas of finance, including financial planning, investor relations, M&A, accounting, treasury, and tax. She also serves on several public and private company boards.

Waller retired in March 2019 after 32 years with The Coca-Cola Company where she was the Chief Financial Officer and President, Enabling Services. In these roles, Waller led the company’s global finance, technical and shared services organizations, and represented the company to investors, lenders, and rating agencies. Waller also serves as a Board member for Delta Airlines, CGI Group, Cadence Bancorporation and Beyond Meat.

Waller possesses deep and broad business experience, gained in global leadership roles at one of the world's most iconic brands. As CFO, she led the M&A, Investor Relations, Tax, Treasury, Audit, Account & Controls, Reporting & Analytics, Real Estate and Risk Management sectors of the business. As President of Enabling Services, Waller had responsibility for other key governance areas specifically Global Technical and Integrated Services. The Integrated Services organization provides global operational support in areas of Financial Services, Associate Services and Supplier Services. Among her many accomplishments in these two roles, Waller was instrumental in:

• Leading a broad effort to transform and modernize Coca-Cola’s finance function, especially modernizing its technology solutions.
• Creating a vision for finance, one that delivers more standard and simplified processes; and
• Developing next generation of talent. While transforming the function, Waller always maintained a focus on how to develop leaders at the forefront of her mission.

In addition to her c-suite role, Waller was the founding chair of The Coca-Cola Company’s Women’s Leadership Council.

Along with her public board responsibilities, Waller is a member of the Board of Trustees of Spelman College, The University of Rochester, The Woodruff Arts Center, The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and The Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. Prior to her retirement she served as Vice Chair of the Advisory Board of Catalyst, a global nonprofit working with some of the world’s most powerful CEOs and leading companies to help build workplaces that work for women.

Waller holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a degree in Business Administration from the University of Rochester and is a Certified Public Accountant.