Meet the GRO Team
Meet the team working to build an inclusive economy!
Hope Wollensack
Hope is the founding Executive Director of the Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund. Prior to her current role she served as a senior strategist at the Economic Security Project and led the Old Fourth Ward Economic Security Task Force, a community-driven initiative to examine the root causes of economic insecurity in Atlanta and beyond. Hope was a founding Policy and Advocacy Lead at Fair Fight Action and also served on the political team with the Abrams for Governor Campaign in 2018.
As a former teacher and assistant principal in New Orleans, Hope has experience in organizing young people, educators, and the faith community. She earned her Master of Public Affairs from Princeton's School of International and Public Affairs as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University, where she helped found the Africana Studies program.
Executive Director | she/her
Chyna Quarker
Director of Programs, In Her Hands | she/her
Chyna Quarker serves as the Director of Programs over the In Her Hands guaranteed income initiative.
Chyna is a proud Los Angeles native who has spent her career working on community-driven initiatives aimed at alternatives to incarceration and increasing the accessibility of quality social services in Atlanta. Prior to her current role, Chyna was the Director of Community Response Services at the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative in Atlanta, where she built the country’s first non-emergency non-police response program through a city’s 311 line. She has since developed several extensions of that work, all focused on decriminalizing poverty and providing appropriate responses to people in crisis in Atlanta.
She began her career as a Sr. Cognitive Behavioral Health Counselor within the Georgia Department of Corrections where, in addition to providing substance use and mental health treatment, she created and implemented programs centered around family reunification, restorative justice, and recidivism prevention.
Chyna received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from Howard University and her Master’s in Political Psychology from Arizona State University where her interest in the intersection of public policy and human behavior was born.
Chyna lives in Atlanta with her cat, Balenciaga, and enjoys traveling, cafe-hopping, and fantasy football.
Amit Khanduri
Director of Programs, Baby Bonds | he/him
Amit serves as Director of Programs for the Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund, where he leads GRO’s Baby Bonds pilot program and efforts to address the racial wealth divide. Amit’s work and studies focus on driving bold solutions to narrow Atlanta’s racial wealth divide.
Prior to GRO, Amit was a Senior Program Officer at LISC Atlanta. Amit helped to establish LISC’s new Atlanta office, and directed and advised the deployment of $50M in community development investments to improve financial stability, wealth, and well-being.
Amit served on the leadership team for WorkSource Atlanta (WSA), the city of Atlanta’s workforce development agency, where he developed job training programs. Prior to WSA, Amit was a Human Capital Analyst at Deloitte Consulting’s Federal Practice where he helped federal agencies align their culture, structure, and talent with their mission.
Amit holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Duke University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Georgia Tech. Amit lives in Atlanta with his wife, daughter, and cat. Ask him about Atlanta Hawks basketball and places to enjoy good food and drinks.
Anna Halpern
Anna serves as the Finance & Operations Director of the Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund. In this role, she is responsible for general operations management, driving organizational initiatives, financial management, and overall team support. Anna was most recently Chief of Staff at Atlanta-based tech start-up NoCodeOps and served as Fractional Chief of Staff & Principal at consultancy firm Operational Designs.
Anna previously led operational infrastructure design & implementation, and financial management for global teams at EY (Ernst & Young) as a Financial Technology Consultant. She managed technical and business teams delivering large scale digital transformation projects for clients in the financial sector.
Anna received her BA in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park where her studies focused on historical power dynamics in the US relating to gender, race, and sexuality. She enjoys hiking and relaxing at home with her husband and two cats (Wun Wun & Marcel). She’ll gladly show you pictures of them at any point in time.
Finance and Operations Director | she/her
Makayla Richards serves as the Program Manager for the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund where she leads the day to day management of the In Her Hands Guaranteed Income Program. Her favorite parts of the role include community engagement, and program design and implementation.
Prior to her current role, Makayla served as a state organizer for both Our Turn, an education justice organization, and URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, engaging high school and college aged youth in issue-based campaigns that promote anti-racist learning and autonomy. She blends skills from her background in community organizing and advocacy, with her passion for programs designed for women and their families, to support a deeply participant-centered experience.
She earned her Bachelor's degree from Brandeis University, where she developed an Independent Interdisciplinary Major in Black Women’s Studies. In her free time, she can be found supporting single mamas in Atlanta via her work with the Tender Foundation’s diaper bank, or cuddled up with her cat Sage.
Program Manager | she/her
Makayla Richards
Jarrett Daniels
Jarrett Daniels serves as a Program Manager for the Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund. In this role, he is responsible for the implementation and management of GRO’s Baby Bonds pilot program. Jarrett is a licensed Social Worker who has dedicated his career to serving his community, empowering others, and advocating for racial and economic equity.
Jarrett previously served as a Program Manager at the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, where he implemented and managed the Income Mobility Program for Atlanta Community Transformation (I.M.P.A.C.T.), a guaranteed income pilot program created by former Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income coalition. Prior to I.M.P.A.C.T., Jarrett held multiple titles at Year Up of Greater Atlanta where he worked tirelessly to fulfill the mission of closing the Opportunity Divide by supporting young adults in their journey to achieve professional and academic success.
Jarrett has also served as a Grief Counselor for CHRIS180 and Atlanta Victims Assistance, Inc. where he provided mental health services to individuals and families who have lost loved ones to gun violence.
Jarrett graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of Georgia with a Master of Social Work degree. He is a Georgia Boy born and raised who enjoys horticulture, driving his truck, and football on Saturdays. “Go Dawgs!”
Program Manager | he/him
Candace serves as the Communications and Narrative Director for the Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund. She most recently served as the Director of Communications for the Westside Future Fund (WFF) leading the organization's storytelling and strategic messaging efforts. Prior to her time with WFF she worked for 10+ years as a reporter and producer covering topics related to politics, affordable housing, transit, social justice and more.
Candace is a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia and enjoys all things unicorns, traveling, listening to live music, spending time with friends and family, supernatural romance novels and seeking the answer to the question: “can one planner help you keep track of all your to-do lists?”
Communications and Narrative Director | she/her
Candace Wheeler
Executive Board
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Board Chair | he/him
Atlanta City Council Member, District 2Amir 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.
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Board Member | she/her
Director of Investor Relations,
ICV PartnersKristie is a Marketing and Investor Relations professional that has worked in the alternatives assets space for almost two decades. In her current role at ICV Partners, she leads all capital development efforts for the firm and is responsible for cultivating and maintaining institutional investor relationships.
Prior to her role at ICV Partners, Ms. Goodman served as Founder and CEO of Inner City Consulting, LLC where she provided ESG, strategy, and outsourced investor relations services to private equity and venture funds.
Ms. Goodman holds a BBS in Finance from Georgia State University and a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Keller Graduate School.
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Board Member | she/her
Research Director, Southern Economic Advancement ProjectAs Research 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.
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Board Member | she/her
CEO, Springboard to OpportunitiesAisha 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.
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Board Member | he/him
Executive Director, LISC AtlantaAs 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.
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Board Member | he/him
President and CEO, MDCJohn 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.
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Board Treasurer | he/his
Policy ConsultantAlan 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.
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Board Member
President and Co-Founder, Economic Security ProjectNatalie 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.
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Board Member | she/her
Vice President of Community Development, Bank of AmericaYonina 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.
Interested in joining the team? For more information, please visit our careers page.