On Friday, June 15, Westside Future Fund hosted its 12th Summit of 2018. With more than 350 guests, this was one of our most well-attended Summits to date!

The event began with an opening devotion performance by the Atlanta Music Project. We were then honored to host Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who provided the morning’s keynote address.

Opening Devotion

We opened the program with a choral selection from the Atlanta Music Project. Founded in 2010, the Atlanta Music Project’s mission is to empower underserved youth to realize their possibilities through music. It fulfills this aim by providing intensive, tuition-free music education for underserved youth. The organization features orchestral and choral programming, as well as a summer music series and advanced training to help students develop their musical abilities.

 

Announcements

• Westside Volunteer Corps – June Day of Service
• WFF RFQ — In order to advance its Mixed-income Communities Strategy, the Westside Future Fund is preparing to publish a Request for Qualifications that will help it identify and pre-qualify a pool of development partners who can assist with the execution of this impact strategy. It will primarily entail the renovation of multi-family and single-family properties, with a focus on affordable yet innovative housing solutions. Click here for more info.

Attendees

Some of our special guests included Westside Future Fund board members Liz Blake, Councilmember Ivory Lee Young (City of Atlanta), Dave Stockert, Penny McPhee (Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation), Virginia Hepner and Dr. Beverly Tatum. Atlanta City Councilmember Andre Dickens, State House Representative “Able” Mable Thomas, Atlanta Police Foundation President Dave Wilkinson, BB&T CEO Kelly King, Atlanta Habitat for Humanity President & CEO Lisa Gordon, and so many more were also in attendance.

Following the Atlanta Music Project performance, Westside Future Fund director John Ahmann presented community announcements and welcomed Westside Future Fund board member, Westside native, president of The Coca-Cola Foundation, and Vice President of Global Affairs at The Coca-Cola Company, Helen Smith Price, who in turn introduced the mayor. Ms. Smith Price is also a graduate of both Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College.

 

Featured Presentation

As the 60th mayor of the City of Atlanta and a fifth-generation Atlantan, Mayor Bottoms began her remarks by sharing some personal reflections on her family’s deep history on the Westside and her desire to see the communities in the area celebrate renewed prosperity. The mayor also emphasized some goals and milestones related to her brief tenure in office and highlighted a mission to create $1 billion of affordable housing in the city. She concluded her remarks with an affirmation of her One Atlanta vision statement and her optimistic belief in the City of Atlanta.

The mayor also fielded questions about her vision for the city related to several topics, including water conservation, plans for the Office of Resilience, protecting legacy residents in the face of new residential/commercial developments, policing of juvenile citizens in the city, preparing the city for future large-scale sporting events, and providing reentry transition programs for incarcerated citizens.

 

Check out our Facebook page for photos from the Summit.

Click below to watch the Mayor’s address in its entirety.

Check out news coverage from the event!

Saporta Report: “Questions on housing and more at Westside Summit with mayor”

CBS46 (WGCL): “Mayor, city officials unveil plan to revitalize Atlanta’s west side”