Cicely is a creative strategist and social entrepreneur adept at providing thought leadership and consulting services in areas such as design thinking, racial equity, environmental justice, food sovereignty, and grants management. Cicely is currently the Co-executive director of The National Black Food and Justice Alliance (NBFJA) which represents hundreds of Black urban and rural farmers, organizers, and land stewards based nationwide working together towards an intergenerational, urban/rural movement to map, assess, train and deepen the organizing, institution building and advocacy work protecting Black land and work towards food sovereignty. Cicely spearheaded the transition of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability to Office of Resilience under the 100 Resilient Cities program pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation to address challenges and opportunities arising in Metro cities as a result of urbanization, globalization, and climate change. Cicely served as a community builder, facilitator and program manager for 8.5 years at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Cicely holds a B.S.B.A. degree with a concentration in Finance and New & Small Business Management from Georgetown University and a Master of Public Policy degree with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from The George Washington University.

Khaliff Davis, CFA brings over a decade of experience in impact investing and field building through his work developing new programmatic initiatives, raising capital, and funding mission-driven businesses that improve economic opportunity Currently, Khaliff is Managing Director, Fund Management at Reinvestment Fund, a national mission-driven financial institution (CDFI) that provides capital for transformative projects that revitalize communities so that residents can thrive. As Managing Director, Khaliff leads the management and oversight of the firm’s Growth Capital portfolio targeting growth-oriented entrepreneurs and financial intermediaries driving community-rooted change in alignment with the firm’s mission. In support of the organization’s equity objectives, Khaliff also serves as a member of the lending management team, implementing strategic lending priorities such as the Growing Housing Developers initiative, an innovative program designed to drive flexible capital to community-rooted real estate firm His prior role at Reinvestment Fund included deploying over $200 million in catalytic capital in the Southeast, with particular emphasis in Metro Atlanta. Khaliff is civically engaged in Metro Atlanta serving on various boards and councils including Resurgence Hall Charter School, Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc, the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative, and ULI’s Livable Cities Council.

Sagirah Jones has a passion for serving others and creating positive change. She is especially committed to strengthening communities by connecting them to resources that can propel them towards their collective goals. Sagirah is currently the Programs Director at Propel ATL, formerly known as the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC) and Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety (PEDS, where she manages engagement programs that are innovative in the way they connect people, interests, and action. She champions children being able to safely bicycle through the city and is an avid proponent of active transportation, equitable transit-oriented development, and democratic streets. Sagirah was appointed to represent Atlanta on the MARTA Board of Directors in 2023 and serves on the Association of Pedestrian & Bicycle Professionals’ national task force on equity, diversity, and inclusion. Sagirah also serves as the Board president of Atlanta Planning Advisory Board (APAB). When she does not have a book in her hands, Sagirah enjoys outdoor adventures and exploring the city via active transportation with her family.

Sterling Johnson, an Atlanta native, is dedicated to honoring the legacy of Southern civil rights and freedom movements. Early in life, he was inspired by the “Others” sign in his childhood church to serve his community, working with low-wealth and homeless populations and learning about the legislative process.

Currently, he serves as director of the Partnership for Southern Equity’s Just Opportunity Portfolio, leading economic justice programs that focus on democratizing economic development, increasing capital access, and fostering economic mobility for entrepreneurs and youth of color. In this role, he champions new civic values of equitable government and community development, provided guidance for numerous elected officials and governments, and provided training for hundreds of small businesses. Furthermore, he has been an active and avid funder, providing over $500,000 in non-dilutive capital to founders and youth entrepreneurs across Georgia.

Before PSE, Sterling served as Director of Public Policy at Griffin & Strong, P.C., managing procurement disparity studies and supplier diversity programs. He has provided consulting services to hundreds of clients, including supporting the mayors of Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham. This role also helped him discover his passion for equitable government and municipal innovation through leading pilot programs for Living Cities’ through its City Accelerator, program, focused on using government contracts to improve racial economic outcomes. This motivated him to found his own organization, Umoja Lab, which seeks to better partner with the social, philanthropic, and private sectors to promote innovation and equitable government.

Sterling holds a master’s in public administration from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s in Sociology from Furman University. His work has been featured in Governing Magazine and NextCity, and he was recognized as an Emerging Leader through the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Program in 2022. He remains active in Atlanta’s community through various leadership roles. 

Julian Hill (he/they) is an assistant professor at Georgia State University College of Law. Hill is a teacher, lifelong learner, community organizer, artist, and attorney who knows that the world we deserve, though both possible and necessary, is one for which we must fight with radical love. His research focuses on how lawyers leverage corporate, local government, and contract law to build a solidarity economy that prioritizes people and the planet over profits.

Hill regularly advised worker cooperatives, collectives, nonprofits, and small businesses on various matters, including formation, governance, compliance, and contracts. They co-facilitated workshops, in English and Spanish, on worker cooperatives and the solidarity economy with Law 4 Black Lives, the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, Democracy at Work Institute, the New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives, and other community-based organizations. He has prepared and delivered testimony before the New York State Assembly and the New York City Council on issues facing worker cooperatives and small businesses. Hill joined the College of Law after serving two years as a Clinical Teaching Fellow and Supervising Attorney with the Social Enterprise and Nonprofit Law Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center. Before Georgetown, Hill supervised the Capacity Building practice at TakeRoot Justice, a New York City-based nonprofit that uses law, policy, and research to empower grassroots organizing. He transitioned to TakeRoot Justice after advising Latin American companies in numerous transactions as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Raised in Kankakee, Illinois, Hill taught high school Spanish in Compton, Calif. with Teach for America. That experience inspired them to launch a business called Yo Hablo, which uses hip-hop to teach Spanish to youth and adults. Hill is licensed to practice law in Georgia, New York, and Washington, D.C. Further, they are a fellow with the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a member of the Black Lawyers Solidarity Economy Network, and have been an active member of the Association of American Law Schools, American Studies Association, Law & Society Association, and American Bar Association, among other formations.

Julian has an LL.M. in advocacy, with honors, from Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a B.A. in philosophy, with honors, from Northwestern University.

Odetta MacLeish-White is a 20+ year career professional in affordable housing, community development, and systemic change. Throughout her career she has: worked on systemic vacancy as Director of Engagement for the Center for Community Progress; led the TransFormation Alliance, a partnership of nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses working with residents to improve housing, transit and jobs access; supported comprehensive community stabilization efforts and nonprofit capacity around the country as a Senior Program Director with Enterprise Community Partners; and created affordable housing recommendations as staff director for Florida’s Affordable Housing Study Commission. She started her career as a developer building tax credit units and managing small commercial properties.

Each of these experiences has deepened Odetta’s understanding of the systemic barriers that hold back our communities from achieving shared prosperity and true community. She turns that understanding into impact by designing solutions and programs which center lived experiences, eliminate unhelpful processes, and challenge unconscious biases and confident racism. Odetta is focused on naming the root causes of inequality and inequity, and pointing out the interplay of power and privilege that hold inequity in place year after year. These lessons show up in her commitment to value systems that become sturdy frameworks for program design, community building, and trusting partnerships. Odetta earned her Juris Doctorate and LLM in International Law from Duke University School of Law, and her bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard-Radcliffe University.

A native of Atlanta, Emery is a long-time educator, organizer, and organizational leader dedicated to building on the continuum of the Black Radical Traditions of the U.S. South, the global diaspora, and African social movements. As Executive Director of Project South, Emery guides the organization to implement its movement building mission through local, regional and global work. Joining Project South in 2004, Emery was part of a successful leadership transition in 2008 and served as Co-Director, working on national and regional organizing projects including the U.S. Social Forum and the Southern Movement Assembly. Having founded a Black youth organization called the Nia Project in the late 1990s, Emery developed the current youth programs at Project South including co-founding the Septima Clark Community Power Institute in 2008 and the Youth Speak Truth Radio program in 2005. Committed to connecting across frontlines and playing a strong movement leadership role in multiple spaces, Emery serves as a representative on the Pan-African social movement steering committee Afrikki, and on the Governance Team of the Southern Movement Assembly, in addition to cultivating partnerships with Southern and Black-led organizations around the country.

Avery (he/him) is committed to developing cooperative real estate models that vest power and agency in working class and communities of color. As the Director of The Guild’s Community Stewardship Trust, he ensures its offering builds community wealth and supports local residents, small businesses, and grass roots organizations to thrive in place. Prior to The Guild, Avery worked in community development finance where his work focused on fundraising and providing accessible financial products for underserved neighborhood developers and organizations. In his roles Avery has raised over $20 Million in capital towards the development of affordable housing, commercial spaces and community facilities serving working class and communities of color. Avery is a 2022 UC Berkeley Terner Housing Fellow and  Purpose Futures Fellow. Avery has a BS in Finance from Syracuse University.

Antariksh (he/him) is an architect with over a decade of experience and has worked in architecture offices in New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Beijing. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Waterloo, and a Master’s degree in Real Estate Development from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

As Development Director at The Guild, he is most interested in the design and development of cooperative and shared-equity forms of housing. Antariksh has disciplinary interests in Finance, Policy, Architecture, and Urbanism. His work has been published in Domus Magazine, Places Journal, and Canadian Architect. In his spare time, Antariksh is an avid rock climber.