Meet the GRO Team

Executive Board

Board Chair | he/him
Atlanta City Council Member, District 2
Amir is an Atlanta City Councilmember and Executive Director of US Programs at CARE. In 2019, Amir convened the Old Fourth Ward Economic Security Task Force to explore approaches to increasing economic security for his council district's most vulnerable residents. This work led to the launch of the GRO Fund. Amir is a graduate of Duke University and Duke University School of Law and was the first Iranian-American elected official in the American South.

Board Member | she/her
Executive Director, Southern Economic Advancement Project
As Executive Director for the Roosevelt Institute’s Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP), Sarah Beth works to broaden economic power in the American South through policy research and network-building across the region. Prior to joining SEAP, she served as policy director for a gubernatorial campaign, deputy director for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, and founder of Gehl Consulting to provide consulting services to maximize the policy and advocacy impacts of national and Georgia-based nonprofits. Sarah Beth has taught at the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Agnes Scott College. She received a PhD in public policy through a joint program at Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University, a Master’s in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a BA from Birmingham Southern College.

Board Member | she/her
CEO, Springboard to Opportunities
Aisha is the founding CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, a Jackson, MS nonprofit that uses a “radically resident-driven” approach to end generational poverty. In 2018, she created the Magnolia Mother’s Trust – now the country’s longest-running guaranteed income program, and the first one in the world to focus on Black women. Aisha’s expertise on economic, racial and gender justice issues is regularly featured in outlets including The Washington Post, Amanpour & Company, Essence Magazine, NBC Nightly News and CNN. She is a TEDx speaker and a fellow of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network and Ascend at the Aspen Institute. She holds a B.A. from Tennessee State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University.

Board Member | he/him
Executive Director, LISC Atlanta
As Executive Director of the LISC Atlanta office, Dale is responsible for directing all of LISC’s community development investments and partnerships in the Metro Atlanta area. He brings over 30 years of experience and has facilitated over $1 billion in transactions to develop transit, affordable housing, commercial buildings and small businesses. Dale holds degrees from Duke University and University of California at Irvine.A native of Los Angeles, Dale has called Atlanta home for over 12 years. Prior to joining LISC in 2019, he served for ten years at Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency, to oversee the agency’s New Markets Tax Credit program and other public-private partnerships.

Board Member | he/him
President and CEO, MDC
John is President and CEO of MDC, an organization working on behalf of racial equity and economic mobility in the South. Previously, he served as VP Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute. Prior to that, he was an executive with Prisma Health, where he led collaborative, evidence-based efforts to promote health innovation, access, and equity. He also is a Senior Lecturer at Duke Law School. John was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in the Obama Administration where he served as general counsel for the U.S. Agency for International Development and deputy general counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Board Treasurer | he/his
Policy Consultant
Alan Essig is currently a policy consultant working with non-profits, foundations, advocacy organizations, and political campaigns. Alan previously served as Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Executive Director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Deputy Policy Director in Georgia Office of the Governor, and Director of the Georgia State Senate Research Office. Alan received an MPA from Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the State University of New York at Albany and a BA in History from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Board Member
President and Co-Founder, Economic Security Project
Natalie Foster is the President and co-founder of the Economic Security Project, a network dedicated to advancing a guaranteed income in America and reining in the unprecedented concentration of corporate power. She's a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative, and former director at Obama's Organizing for America, MoveOn.org and Sierra Club.

Board Member | he/him
Partner, Portfolio Investing at New Profit
Hassan is a Partner on the Portfolio Investing team at New Profit, a national philanthropic organization committed to catalyzing the impact of social entrepreneurs who are expanding access and opportunity in America. Prior to joining New Profit, Hassan served as CEO of 4.0, a national incubator that invests in education entrepreneurs to pilot their visions for promising learning models. Hassan's journey has been shaped by the courageous people in his community who worked intentionally to break down barriers and create opportunities for him and many more to thrive. This experience fuels his deep commitment to expanding access to social and financial capital, particularly within economically disenfranchised communities.

Board Member | she/her
Vice President of Community Development, Bank of America
Yonina is a Chicago native with over a decade of experience building strategies and institutional change management practices to improve quality of life for underserved people and places. Yonina’s principal goal is to drive strategic partnerships that honor local leadership and lived experiences for harmonious social and economic impact. Yonina is a community development finance executive, public policy advocate and DEI practitioner that works to amplify Black thought leadership.
Now based in Atlanta, Yonina is a board member of The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative. Yonina has a Master of Urban Planning and Policy degree from The University of Illinois at Chicago and an MBA from Emory’s Goizueta Business School. Yonina is a Vice President of Community Development for Bank of America.