Meet the Board

Founder and Director at Dive Georgia

• Brian spent three decades running successful commercial real estate development, building, zoning and sales firms serving as Managing Broker.

• A M.S. in Decision Science and an A.B.D. in Business Statistics from Georgia State University. Brian taught statistics at Georgia State for several years but now enjoys teaching underwater. Brian trains and certifies staff on Cylinder Safety for The Georgia Aquarium.

• Founder, CEO of Kraken Springs Water Park whereby his organization trains public safety Dive teams, professional level dive instructors, and visitors/divers to scuba dive.

Workers’ Compensation Attorney at Montlick Injury Attorneys

• Paula is a native from Colombia who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 16 to pursue a college education. She has a B.B.A. in International Business with a Concentration in Management from Kennesaw State University (2010).

• She has her J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law (2014). While in law school, she contributed over 400 hours of pro bono work with the Immigrant Rights Clinic.

• She started her legal career as an immigration attorney for a non profit (Catholic Charities Atlanta) representing unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings. Most recently, Paula has worked at a non profit (Ser Familia) representing immigrant victims of domestic violence, violent crimes, and trafficking.

• She lives with her husband, Paul, and her dog, Estelle, in Marietta, GA and loves reading, watching history documentaries, and traveling the world (she has visited 15 countries).

Government Relations, SME

• In November 2022, Sydney was appointed by the US District Court of the Virgin Island to serve as the Independent Federal Monitor overseeing compliance by the Virgin Island Police Department.

• Serving as our Government Relations SME, Sydney is a Senior Consultant and Director at Hillard Heintze, where she helps communities, police executives, elected officials and universities transform policing strategies to deliver constitutional and procedurally just policing practices.

• Undergraduate degree (B.S.) in Criminal Justice from University of Delaware in 1986, J.D. from Rutgers Law School in 1996, and a MSc, Criminal Justice & Criminology in 2002.

• A former Chief Executive for the Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), Sydney has also served as the IL Secretary State of Police, and First Deputy Inspector General/COO in the Office of Executive Inspector General for Illinois.

Founder and CEO at Solid Society

• Rachel Gilreath Richards founded Solid Society in 2013, a digital marketing and e-commerce platform. Within three years from its start, Rachel solely generated over 20,000 product sales and accumulated over 900,000 total Instagram followers, all through organic social media marketing.

• Rachel played a pivotal role as one of the first influencers to leverage Instagram as a brand building and community engagement tool between 2012 and 2018. In 2014, Rachel was voted as the “Instagram Account of the Year." In 2015, she was an invited entrepreneurial speaker at YPO (Young President’s Organization).

• Rachel graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. She currently serves as a marketing consultant for her clients and lives with her husband, Taylor, in the Atlanta area.

Associate Principal at Cooper Carry

• Douglas began his career at Cooper Carry in 1994 and returned in 2022 as an Associate Principal and Director of Design. In this new position, he facilitates design excellence across studios. With 25 years of experience, Douglas has a blended portfolio of mixed-use, residential, higher education, and corporate interiors projects, which gives him a unique perspective when designing creative, functional spaces for clients. His cross-pollination approach allows critical thinking to transcend conventional thought by introducing different ideas and experiences from one project type to another.

• Plans many of the philanthropic efforts within the firm for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Atlanta Community Food Bank, ASPCA, The Giving Kitchen and, of course, William’s House.

• Douglas has a Bachelor of Architecture degree, cum laude, from Auburn University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), and a Fitwel Ambassador.

Retired Sports Journalist at the AJC

• Professional sports journalist for more than four decades, based in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta, most recently as a Senior Writer and Columnist for The Athletic, a New York Times company. Has reported on and written about some of the world’s biggest sports stories, including championship events and Summer and Winter Olympics

• Winner of numerous local and national awards, including being named one of the nation’s top 10 sports columnists by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE), the Atlanta Press Club’s Award of Excellence and five-time winner of the Georgia Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association (NSMA).

• Has been immersed in the addiction recovery community and driven to destigmatize and educate people on addiction and related mental health issues. Widely honored and recognized for his story. “Personal Journey: Lost and Found,” on the struggles of addiction in his own family and the parallel roads of recovery for a parent and their child.

• Board member for Families Anonymous, a parallel recovery group for relatives and loved ones of those living with substance use disorder.

Financial Controller at St. Vincent de Paul GA

• Sue Hansen is currently employed as part of the senior management team at St. Vincent de Paul Georgia as their Controller. She also is the Founder/ Director of the Mustard Tree Foundation, which helps young people in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida receive scholarships for rehabilitation counseling for addiction from enthusiastic sobriety programs.

• In other past positions Sue was the CFO for Marist School for 9 years, also teaching accounting and finance, an adjunct professor of accounting and finance at Oglethorpe University, and a Head of School for 4 years at Atlanta International Montessori School, and Vice President for 6 years at Brebeuf Jesuit High School. She was also Founder Director of Camp Awareness, a camp for children with autism for 12 years.

• She has over 20 years of experience in non-profit experience, in running large schools to many Boards she has served on.

Business Development Specialist, Geo-Hydro Engineers

• Jessica is a relationship builder and self-professed “Ambassador of Good Feelings” in her professional role with Geo-Hydro Engineers and as a board member for the city of Suwanee’s Downtown Development Authority. She is a graduate of Leadership Gwinnett as part of the Class of 2020 and is currently pursuing a degree in Public Administration at Georgia Gwinnett College.

• She also currently serves on the board of The Water Tower Gwinnett and the Aurora Theater.

• She actively volunteers at Annandale Village in her hometown of Suwanee, Georgia, where she resides with her husband Rick and two dogs. Jessica often enjoys running and hiking through the various parks and trail systems and frequently runs everything from 5Ks to half marathons across the United States.

• She was a Gwinnett Chamber Moxie Award finalist in 2021

Commercial Real Estate Associate at Brown Realty Group

• Dan is a native of Atlanta, GA. and received a BBA in Marketing and an MBA, both from the University of Georgia. He is also a proud Eagle Scout.

• Dan worked for several years at top advertising and marketing firms in Atlanta until he transitioned to The Home Depot, where he spent nearly a decade with in-store environment and then product development.

• Dan’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to start an automotive import business in 2020 and then a separate consulting company specializing in capital sourcing, operations and project management. Currently, he is focused on his role as Managing Parter at Wolfe Development, a Commercial Real Estate Development firm his partner founded in 2023.

• Dan has also spent several years in the non-profit world where he collaborated with organizations such as the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia, National Monuments Foundation, and Andrew Young Foundation. His dedicated efforts played a key role in the successful erection of multiple statues in Atlanta, GA, including those of Ambassador Andrew Young and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominently featured at Rodney Cook Sr. Park.

Co-Founder and Grant Writer at William’s House

• William Brust graduated from Presbyterian College in 2006 with a degree in history and a passion for writing. He began his career in nonprofits as a grant-writer in 2008. In 2014, he took a break from the nonprofit field to pursue a career as a teacher, but by early 2020, his passion for non-profits had been rekindled. That year he co-founded William’s House, an organization dedicated to empowering fathers in recovery achieve self-sufficiency. When not busy with William’s House, he offers grant-writing and content development services in the Atlanta area.