Our Board of Directors
Billy is the Chairman of the Board of NewFields Companies, LLC, a firm that specializes in decision analysis and comprehensive data analysis for sustainability, land restoration and resource management. His specialty is data and environmental systems analysis, decision analysis, remediation system design, and strategic planning. He holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has over 50 years of experience in environmental resource management. He has served frequently as a pro bono engineering expert in litigation for the Southern Environmental Law Center, Environmental Defense Fund, and Riverkeepers across the Southeastern US.
His firm currently has 20 offices, with operations in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brasil, Ghana and the EU.
Billy has been involved extensively in the non-profit space, having been one of the early board members of Chattahoochee River Keeper, and a founding member of Southfork Conservancy and the Georgia Alliance for Progress, a non-profit dedicated to building advocacy infrastructure in Georgia for advancing social equity, opportunity, and justice. He was one of the founding Board Members of the Oakhurst Center for Community, having served as Chair for the original exploratory Task Force, and is currently Board Chair.
Current Employment- NewFields Companies
Board President
Board Vice President & Secretary
Kelli is a seasoned finance leader with over 25 years of expertise in corporate finance and accounting. Throughout her career, she has excelled in collaborating with C-suite and other senior leaders, external stakeholders, and high-performing teams to drive strategic business outcomes. With two decades of experience in the insurance and financial services sector, Kelli has honed her skills in navigating complex financial landscapes.
Kelli’s expertise spans across Controllership, SEC reporting, financial planning and analysis, M&A integrations, and corporate governance. Her collaborative approach and ability to align financial strategy with business objectives have been instrumental in achieving significant milestones for the companies she has served. Her commitment to excellence and continuous improvement has earned her a reputation as a trusted advisor and leader in the finance community.
A graduate of Central State University with a BS in Accounting and an MBA from The University of Toledo, Kelli is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who has consistently demonstrated her commitment to excellence in her field. Her dedication extends beyond her professional life; she served on the Board of Directors for the Central State University National Alumni Association and currently holds the position of Board Treasurer for the Oakhurst Center for Community. Kelli has been a licensed real estate professional in the state of Georgia for over 20 years.
Board Treasurer
Font is a Licensed Professional Counselor of thirteen years, a Master Addiction Counselor, a National Certified Counselor, and a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor specializing in treating trauma through her private practice in Decatur, Georgia. She also serves in a charter school system providing mental health care to students in secondary education. Her work is centered on healing individuals across generations who have experienced trauma and struggling with substance use while equipping scholars with the tools needed to improve their mental health to perform at their highest capacity. She currently serves on the board for Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights where she helped to lead the charge to take down the Lost Cause Confederate monument in Decatur, Georgia, which previously stood since 1908, in her role as Co-chair for the confederate monument removal committee now the Decolonize Decatur Committee. Her work continues with this organization today in a broader approach to provide community education on symbols of white supremacy as a cultural critic on the impact of colonization on people of African descent using a public art initiative (Art for the People), which she created, and organizing for reparations for Black residents and legacy members of the historic Beacon Hill community. Her reparations work is informed by over a decade of providing mental health services to Black community members marginalized in the criminal justice system and community mental health institutions.
Board Member
Gray was a faculty member in the Emory Department of Biology from 1984 until his retirement in 2019. He has a B.S. from Duke University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In addition to teaching both undergraduate and graduate students, he ran a research laboratory, funded by more than $5,000,000 in private and federal grants. In addition to his teaching and research, he served on numerous College and University committees, including the College Tenure and Promotions Committee from 2001 to 2004, which he chaired in 2003-2004, and co-chairing the Provost Committee on Class and Labor, Phase 2: Faculty, from 2013-2016. He was also involved in faculty governance, serving on the College Faculty Governance
Committee from 2009-2012, chairing the committee in the last year, and serving on the University Faculty
Council and University Senate from 2008-2014. He was Chair of the University Faculty Council and President of the University Senate in 2012-2013. As part of those duties, he also served on the Emory Board of Trustees as a Faculty Counselor from 2011-2013. He began a half-time appointment in the Office of the Provost in 2013, serving in 2013-2014 as Senior Director for Faculty Affairs and then from 2014-2021 as Director of the Emory University Emeritus College, comprised of over 700 retired Emory Faculty members.
Additional Board work has included: Serving on the Board of the Emory Friends of Music, beginning in 2016, and serving as Chair from 2019-2023; serving on the Board of AROHE (Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education) serving both the U.S. and Canada, from 2017-2023; and serving as Treasurer of GA-HERO (Georgia Association of Higher Education Retiree Organizations) from 2019 to the present.
Board Member
Retired from over 35 years of nonprofit financial and operations management.
1990-2014, Senior Vice President, Center for the Visually Impaired (Atlanta)
Responsible for finance, human resources, and building management of major service agency for persons with visual impairments, twice serving as acting president during interim periods.
1984-1990, Operations Manager, Presbyterian Publishing House
Relocated warehousing and bookstore operations from various cities to new location in Louisville, Kentucky
1978-1984, Assistant to the President for Institutional Services, Mercer University
Business officer for Atlanta campus of multi-campus university
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Board Member