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LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Kate Atwood uses nonprofit experience to showcase Atlanta
By Clare S. Richie
Kate Atwood is showcasing metro
Atlanta to the world to attract and
retain the next generation of top talent.
She joined the Metro Atlanta Chamber
last September to lead the new
ChooseATL initiative.
“Come to Atlanta, hustle, and
people will help you make your
mark,” she urges. This is not just Kate
Atwood’s message to young people;
it’s her story, too. At age 23, Atwood
moved to Atlanta from Charlottesville,
Va., and made her mark quickly by
founding the nationally renowned
nonprofit, Kate’s Club.
Millennials, born in the early
1980s to early 2000s, are now the
largest cohort in the workforce. This
generation is more intentional about
where and how they choose to live. It’s
up to Atwood to brand the opportunity
Atlanta creates for this next generation,
as a desirable convergence of industry
and culture. To tell young people and
young influencers that Atlanta is a
hub for tech start-ups, that Georgia is
ranked among the top three states for
film and entertainment production,
and boasts a “cool factor” with the
AtlantaBeltLine, Ponce City Market, a
thriving arts scene and more.
To begin however, “you need
to meet people where they are, and
evolve their perceptions,” Atwood
explained.“Outside of Atlanta, we
have a lot of work to do to become
millennials’ top choice to start a career
and build a life.”
So, her plan includes activations
like the one this spring in Austin,
Texas, at “South by Southwest,” one of
the world’s largest convenings of film,
music and tech. Her team will also look
closely at colleges and universities both
here in Atlanta to retain talent, as well
as in 10 key markets around the U.S.
ChooseATL is also building a
presence using digital and social media.
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Kate Atwood, Mayor Kasim Reed and Metro Atlanta Chamber CEO Hala Moddelmog.
provide a place for grieving children to
have fun, develop friendships and learn
to cope with their loss.
“People got behind Kate’s Club
from day one. It struck a need and the
community was ready to embrace it,”
Atwood remembered. She hosted a
bar night and raised $1,200 from 150+
Atlantans who believed in her vision.
Today Kate’s Club provides social
and emotional support programs
led by professionals and volunteers,
such as: therapeutic group activities,
outings, summer camp and school
collaborations. It serves kids from
different social/economic backgrounds,
faiths and neighborhoods, “because
grief is the ultimate equalizer that
unites us through tolerance and
compassion,” Atwood said.
In 2010, Atwood felt the nonprofit
needed an experienced administrative
CEO to take it to next level and worked
with the board on a succession plan
This October, ChooseATL will host
its second Ultimate Job Interview
Contest - an “Apprentice” meets “Shark
Tank” experience, but with landing
your first job here in Atlanta as the end
prize. This year, the goal is for 1,000
contestants to submit a 90-second
video about how to make your mark
in Atlanta. The top 10 vote getters, as
determined by social media, then create
a five-minute pitch on why they should
be hired. It culminates with three
finalists, who receive an all-expenses-
paid trip to Atlanta to interview with
executives. They also receive two days
of VIP treatment throughout the city.
In her personal life, Atwood also
leads by example. A few years ago she
teamed up with April Trigg on Living
by Giving (livingbygiving.com), which
shares stories meant to inspire others to
seek their charitable path.
“We’ve turned the idea of charity
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on its head, by giving people
permission to ask ‘What’s
in it for me’?” Atwood
said. For instance, some
volunteer to heal while others
give to promote a more
sustainable future. The idea
is that altruism with personal
meaning will last and have a
bigger impact.
“I feel so grateful that at
a young age I was able to tap
into how powerful giving can
be in my own life - I want to
help others know that power,
and give them permission to
seek the giving that gives back
the most to them,” Atwood
said.
She’s referring to the
impact of Kate’s Club, a
nonprofit she founded in
2014, has had on thousands of
children and teens facing the
loss of a parent or sibling.
“I didn’t talk about my
mom’s death for seven years,”
Atwood said. She was 12 years
old when her mother passed
away after a long battle with
breast cancer.
Atwood’s father told her
after her mother’s death,
“Your life is changed, but you
can and must charge forward
in pursuit of your biggest
dreams.”
At 19, as a counselor at a
bereavement camp in Virginia, Atwood
agreed to share her story with 200
campers. Later that night, a camper
told her about losing both parents.
“This is bigger than me,” Kate
realized in that moment, adding,
“When tragedy happens at a young
age, you try to understand why.” One
in 20 kids lose a parent before age 18
and there simply aren’t enough support
services for them. Atwood discovered
her “why” was to help these kids grieve
and show them how to move forward.
At 24, she started the club, to
Photo by Krisandra Evans
Atwood works with kids at Kate's Club.
that has now positioned Kate’s Club
as the leading children’s bereavement
organization in the region.
She still serves on the Kate’s Club
Board of Advisors and is most proud
of its enduring culture. “From the
beginning, I wanted Kate’s Club to be
this inviting and warm place where
young survivors of grief can feel more
alive, less alone and begin to believe
in their dreams again in spite of tragic
loss. If you give kids the environment
to build an optimistic, inclusive and
empowering culture, even in the face
of adversity, it’s exactly what they will
do.” ESI
6 June 2016 | INtOWIl
AtlantalNtownPaper.com