Board of Directors

· Mayor Shirley Franklin (Board Co-chair) – Franklin is the first woman to be mayor of Atlanta and the first African-American female to be mayor of a major Southern city. She began her leading role in the city as cultural affairs commissioner under Mayor Maynard Jackson and then as chief administrative officer and city manager for Mayor Andrew Young. Mayor Franklin also served as senior vice president for external relations for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games and served as CEO of Shirley Clarke Franklin & Associates.

· Vernon Jordan (Board Co-chair) – Senior managing director of Lazard Frères & Co. in New York, Jordan is also a Presidential appointee to the President’s Advisory Committee for the Points of Light Initiative Foundation; the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on South Africa; the Advisory Council on Social Security; the Presidential Clemency Board; the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission; the National Advisory Committee on Selective Service; and the Council of the White House Conference “To Fulfill These Rights.”

· Doug Shipman (Executive Director) – Most recently a principal in the Atlanta office of the Boston Consulting Group, Shipman also has an extensive educational background in issues of race, ethnicity and gender including undergraduate and graduate studies in topics including the relationship between economics and poverty, the history of American minority groups and religion as applied in social movements including the American Civil Rights movement, the Indian independence movement and the Buddhist environmental movement in Southeast Asia.

· R. Lawrence Ashe - A partner at law firm Ashe, Rafuse & Hill, LLP in Atlanta, Ashe has led trial counsel in some of the largest class action employment and other discrimination cases tried to date, as well as numerous individual cases. He is a former member of the Atlanta Urban League, having served as the president and the director.

· Tom Bernstein - President and co-founder of Chelsea Piers, L.P., formed in 1992 to develop and operate the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex. Bernstein was the co-founder and chairman of the International Freedom Center, and is the vice-chair of Human Rights First and was appointed by President Bush to serve as a council member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

· Coleman Breland – Breland is executive vice president, sales and marketing for Turner Network Sales (TNS), the domestic distribution, sales and marketing arm of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.). He has served on the board of SBCA (Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association) for five years and is currently serving on the board of directors for Zoo Atlanta and is the chair for the organization’s Marketing Committee.

· Ken Burns – A prolific director and producer of films, Ken Burns explores American history in award-winning documentaries and miniseries such as “The Civil War” (1990), “Baseball” (1994), “Jazz” (2001) and “The War” (2007). He is a co-founder of Florentine Films.

· Edith Dee Cofrin, "Edie" – Involved with the Human Rights Campaign for over 20 years serving in many capacities from Atlanta Dinner co-chair to Board of Governors to Capital Campaign co-chair to HRC Foundation co-chair, Edie has also served on the Atlanta Women's Foundation Board for 12 years including 2 years as chair, Aid Atlanta's Board and co-chaired HeartStrings National Tour Finale. She been a major donor Charis Circle, Atlanta Lesbian Health Initiative, YouthPride, Georgia Equality, Vote Choice and Emily's List. She is currently the chair of the AEC Trust, a family foundation.

· Dean Eisner - President and CEO of Manheim, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, Inc., which is one of the nation’s leading media companies and providers of automotive services. He is also a board member of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Children’s Healthcare Foundation.

· Ernest Greer - Managing shareholder at the law firm Greenberg Traurig, Greer also serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee. He is a member of the General Counsel of the National Association of Minority Contractors (Atlanta) and the General Counsel of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc.

· Kwanza Hall – Atlanta City Councilmember Hall represents District 2, Atlanta’s most socio-economically and culturally diverse district. Before his election, Hall served on the Atlanta Board of Education. He is the director of business development for MACTEC Engineering and Consulting and serves on the boards of Operation HOPE, the Historic District Development Corporation and the Butler Street YMCA, among others.

· Jim Hannan – President and CEO of Georgia Pacific since 2007, Hannan previously served as president of INVISTA Intermediates and held several leadership positions at Koch Mineral Services. Previous board positions include Koch Cellulose.

· William Lucy – The international secretary-treasurer for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Lucy is also president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists which he founded in 1972. He is the founder of the Free South Africa Movement, an executive council member of the AFL-CIO, a board member of the AFL-CIO African American Labor Center, the Africa America Institute, American for Democratic Action and the Center for Policy Alternatives.

· Jim Maddox – Atlanta City Councilmember Maddox represents District 11 in south Atlanta. He is a former director of campaign public affairs for the United Way of Metro Atlanta and a board member of the SW Family YMCA. He has received numerous awards for leadership in the Atlanta community.

· Walter E. Massey – Dr. Massey is a renowned physicist, former president of Morehouse College and former director of the National Science Foundation. He is currently serving his second term as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The recipient of more than 30 honorary degrees, he also has served on corporate and foundation boards, including the Mellon Foundation, Bank of America, BP p.l.c., Motorola and McDonald’s.

· Edward “Ned” Montag – COO and part-owner of A. Montag & Associates, an investment management firm, Montag oversees marketing and client service for the firm. Montag serves on the boards of several Atlanta-based organizations, including Trinity school, The Jewish Education Loan Fund, The Temple and The Sidney Isenberg Lecture Series.

· Egbert Perry - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Atlanta-based The Integral Group LLC, an urban development, real estate advisory and investment management firm. He recently ended a 7-year term on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and currently serves on the Board of Fannie Mae, Atlanta Life Financial Group, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

· David Ratcliffe – Chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company, Ratcliffe was previously CEO of the company’s largest subsidiary, Georgia Power. He is a member of the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, CSX Transportation, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Research Alliance, Edison Electric Institute and Woodruff Arts Center.

· A.J. Robinson - President of Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID), Robinson oversees one of the most effective advocacy organizations in the city. CAP has created and spun off a number of organizations such as Trees Atlanta, Research Atlanta, COPA, Inc. and the Midtown Alliance.

· Robert L. Stein – Managing director at Chartwell Capital Management Co., Stein co-founded the Women’s Growth Capital Fund in 1997. He was chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1993-1995 and is active on the boards of Foodfit.com, Marvelous Market, Explore, Inc. and People’s Pottery, as well as the Women’s Consumer Network.

· Andrea Young –Executive Director of the Andrew Young Foundation and a Scholar in Residence at Morehouse College, Young was formerly Senior Program Officer for the Southern Education Foundation. Ms. Young is the author of Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me and assisted for Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young in writing his memoir of the civil rights movement, An Easy Burden: Civil Rights and the Transformation of America. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University and is active in Leadership Atlanta, the Links, Inc and the First Congregational Church. A member of the State Bar of Georgia, she has received numerous awards for her advocacy work.

Center for Civil and Human Rights Staff

Doug Shipman, Executive Director National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Doug Shipman is currently serving as the Executive Director of the NCCHR. Doug was most recently a Principal in the Atlanta office of the Boston Consulting Group. Doug joined BCG’s Atlanta office in 2001 and was a summer consultant in the BCG New York office in 2000. He also spent one year in BCG’s Mumbai, India office as part of BCG’s Ambassador Program.

During his time at BCG, Doug worked for with senior executive clients within the financial services, consumer goods and industrial goods industries. He has led cases dealing with marketing, sales force organization and incentives, sales distribution strategy, pricing, and operations. He has extensive experience in strategy and overall management issues.

Doug also has an extensive educational background in issues of race, ethnicity and gender including undergraduate and graduate studies in topics including the relationship between economics and poverty, the history of American minority groups and religion as applied in social movements including the American Civil Rights movement, the Indian independence movement and the Buddhist environmental movement in Southeast Asia. He has also served as a facilitator for discussion groups exploring racial understanding in Richmond, VA and Cambridge, MA.

Doug has an MPP (Master of Public Policy) from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with an emphasis on domestic politics; an MTS (Master of Theological Studies) from the Harvard Divinity School with an emphasis on religion in public situations and politics and a bachelor’s degree with High Honors from Emory University with majors in Economics and Political Science.

W. Imara Canady, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships

Imara Canady serves as Vice-President of Strategic Partnerships. He is leading the charge of cultivating relationships and building collaborations that connect the Center’s vision and mission with a broad array of local, national and international cultural, academic and community organizations and institutions.

Imara returns to Atlanta after working with the Chicago Community Trust for two years. Prior to moving to Chicago, Imara was a key aide to Atlanta Mayor, Shirley Franklin serving as Special Assistant to the Mayor/Special Events Manager, after having served as Communications Director/Press Secretary for her successful election in 2001. Imara’s career as a public servant started in 1997 as Special Projects Coordinator for the previous Mayor of Atlanta, and subsequently he worked for the Office of Vice-President Al Gore and then as Budget Manager for Gore’s 2000 Presidential campaign.

Imara has a strong passion for arts and culture. He worked as a consultant for the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, as a staff member with the Theatre and Dance Programs for the 1996 Cultural Olympiad and as a recent appointee to the board for the Fulton County Arts Council. His service to his community is personified by his membership on many boards including the American Red Cross Minority Recruitment Board, the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee’s Next Generation Leadership Advisory Council, Horizon Theatre Company Board, the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame Advisory Committee and the Don’t Stop the Music Foundation.

Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Imara graduated from Northside School of the Arts. He received an Associates Degree in Journalism from Atlanta Metropolitan College, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis on Public Relations and Broadcast Journalism from Georgia State University and is in the final stages of completing graduate work at Loyola University - Chicago in Philanthropy and Non-Profit Management.

Aliguma Young, Director, Major Gifts

Aliguma Young joined the Development team of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in July of 2009. Prior to NCCHR, Ms. Young was the Assistant Director of Corporate and Foundation at Georgia State University. Ms. Young was responsible for raising funds from corporations, corporate foundations, and private foundations. Prior to joining Georgia State University, Ms. Young was responsible for raising the $3.5 million budget as the Development Director at My Sister's Place, Inc. in Washington, DC.

Ms. Young has had a myriad of experience in industry and in the non profit world. Most recently, she was in Global Sales with the Hershey Company doing business to business sales. Ms. Young has also done consulting in grant writing, strategic planning, special event planning, and board development. She has presented at national conferences including CASE International. A member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the National Black MBA Association, Ms. Young holds a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from the Miller College of Business at Ball State University and a Bachelor degree from Tufts University.