Our Mission
Our Mission is to provide leadership on key issues important to economic growth and inclusion for all citizens in the City of Atlanta.
Scroll
About
The Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP), a unique public-private partnership, was founded in 2003 by Mayor Shirley Franklin. The new committee allowed the Mayor to gather input and collaborate with c-suite level business, civic, philanthropic and academic leaders on issues of critical importance to the city.
Today, the ACP includes more than 40 highly-engaged chief executive officers, university presidents and civic leaders who offer expertise in service to Atlanta and its future development under the leadership of Mayor Andre Dickens.
The ACP’s tremendous impact as an organization is due to the unique, execution-oriented partnership between the Mayor and leaders from business, non-profit and academic institutions on the most critical issues facing Atlanta. The organization’s key focus areas have been public sector fiscal accountability; economic development; infrastructure and transportation; K-12 public education; technology and innovation; and culture/quality of life.
“We’re committed to the success of our city and our mayor, and to expanding opportunity that benefits all our citizens.”
— Larry L. Gellerstedt, III, Former 2019 Chair
“ACP drives results by leveraging the talent and commitment of many of Atlanta’s most respected business, academic and civic leaders.”
— John Dyer, Former 2017 Chair
Members
Claire Lewis Arnold
ACP Treasurer
CEO
Leapfrog Services, Inc.
Arthur M. Blank
Owner & CEO
Atlanta Falcons
Dr. Brian Blake
President
Georgia State University
Raphael Bostic
President & CEO
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Matt Bronfman
CEO
Jamestown
Joylon Bulley
Chief Executive Officer, Americas region,
and Group Transformation Lead, Luxury & Lifestyle for IHG Hotels & Resorts
Dr. Ángel Cabrera
President
Georgia Institute of Technology
Helene Gayle
President
Spelman College
Kim Greene
Chairman, President & CEO
Georgia Power
Dan Cathy
Chairman, President, & CEO
Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Ted Decker
President & CEO,
The Home Depot
Reade Fahs
CEO
National Vision
Greg Fenves
President
Emory University
Steve Fisher
President & CEO
Novelis
Dr. George T. French Jr.
President
Clark Atlanta University
James Hannan
Executive Vice President CEO of Enterprises
Koch Industries, Inc.
Venessa Harrison
President
AT&T Georgia
John Haupert
President & CEO
Grady Health System
Donna Hyland
President & CEO
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Paul Judge
Founder
TechSquare Labs
& Chairman
PinDrop
Jenna Kelly
President, North Georgia Region
Truist
Tim Oliver
President and Chief Executive Officer
NCR Atleos
Dimitris Psillakis
President and CEO
Mercedes-Benz USA
James Quincey
Chairman & CEO
The Coca-Cola Company
Tony Ressler
Principal Owner & Chair of the Board of Directors
Atlanta Hawks
Michael Russell
CEO
H.J. Russell & Company
Andrew Schlossberg
President and CEO
Invesco
David Sewell
CEO
WestRock
Alan Shaw
President & CEO
Norfolk Southern
Wendy Stewart
President, Global Commercial Banking
Bank of America
Scott Taylor
President & CEO
Carter
Dr. David A. Thomas
President
Morehouse College
David Wilkinson
Chief Executive Officer
NCR Voyix
Chris Womack
Chairman and CEO
Southern Company
Kathy Waller
Executive Director
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.
close
Staff
Brittany Edwards
Program Manager
Atlanta Committee for Progress
Sonya Kalara
Business Manager
Atlanta Committee for Progress