What does it mean to love our Midtown neighborhood?
“To take pride in the storied history of our neighborhood; to be genuinely interested in the future wellbeing of our neighborhood; to embrace the variety of people, places and amenities of our neighborhood; and, to be a good caretaker of the neighborhood so it will be a thriving, welcoming, diverse community for generations to come.”
What unique qualities do you offer that will continue the positive growth and work of MNA?
“My work as a Board member with MNA over the past two years has given me a unique view of, and appreciation for, the tremendous amount of work it takes to make this organization thrive. I have drawn on all my corporate and small business management experience to help position this organization for a successful future, including:
- Utilizing my organizational and financial management skills to create simple, sustainable systems and procedures that will ensure consistent operations now and for the future MNA leadership.
- I personally implemented and currently manage all of the annual budgeting, bookkeeping and financial management for the organization
- I’ve worked closely with our Marketing and Membership Chairs to implement a new state-of-the-art software to better track and communicate with our current members. We’ve also worked hard to develop and launch cost-effective recruiting initiatives that have more than doubled our membership base.
- Leveraging my marketing and event management experience to help grow marquee fundraising events like the Midtown Garden Stroll and the Music Midtown Raffle
- As Chairman of the Gardens committee, I’ve worked with an amazing team to update the branding of the Midtown Garden Stroll event and pursued publicity opportunities that have more than doubled attendance. Also, in 2019, the event had numerous paid sponsorships that nearly covered all of the expenses and positioned the event to generate future positive cashflow. Earlier this year, we applied for and secured a grant from the Home Depot Foundation to install flowers and landscaping at Ray Kluka Park.
- I am part of a 3-person team that developed the Music Midtown Raffle that, for the last two years, has leveraged a generous ticket donation to generate much-needed funds for MNA. We expect this financial impact will continue to grow and contribute to MNA as more people become aware of and participate in the raffle each year.
- Dedicating countless volunteer hours promoting MNA at events including the Piedmont Park Green Market, monthly Midtown Mingles, Town Hall events, neighborhood cleanup/improvement events, and at each of our annual marquee events.”
How are you a good Midtown neighbor today?
“In addition to my volunteer work as a member of the Board for MNA, I have spent many years volunteering with the Piedmont Park Conservancy to update and standardize the History Tour program, recruit and train an amazing team of docents, and roll out better promotion of the tour. I love Piedmont Park, visit there often, consider it my unofficial “backyard”, and love to share its history so people become more connected to it.”