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Ed Shartar/Diversified Search

Ed Shartar is Managing Director in the Atlanta office of Diversified Search. Diversified is the 10th largest retained executive search firm and the largest woman owned executive search firm in North America with 8 offices across the US. Ed is a member of the firm’s Education/Non-Profit, Consumer/Retail/Hospitality and Private Equity practices. He has served in leadership roles with Fortune 100 companies in the US, Canada, and UK, worked with private equity owned companies, and serves in a number of nonprofit leadership roles.

Before joining Diversified Search, Ed was President and CEO of Experient, Inc., one of the largest companies in the event management and services industry. He led a team of over 600 employees in 10 offices across the US serving the hospitality industry. Prior to Experient, Ed spent thirteen years at The Coca-Cola Company where he was CEO of the Company’s Canadian operations, Coca-Cola Ltd. Ed’s other roles at The Coca-Cola Company include Managing Director of Field Sales and Marketing, Director of Business Development, and International Treasury Officer. Ed joined The Coca-Cola Company from Citicorp, where he was a vice president and Senior Banker in their Structured Finance and World Corporate Group divisions.

Ed has been honored several times as one of “The 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry” and “The 100 Most Influential People in the Tradeshow Business.” While in Canada, he chaired the Canadian Soft Drink Association and was on the Executive Committee of Food and Consumer Product Manufacturers of Canada.

Ed is a native of Atlanta and has lived across the U.S. and in the U.K. and Canada. He and his wife Teresa were the parents of a special needs child. They have four sons.

Ed is also a Board member and VP Social Enterprise Initiative with the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta.

Kathy Colbenson/CHRIS Kids 

After a number of years as a practicing clinician, in 1987 Kathy Colbenson became the CEO of CHRIS Kids and found her calling. CHRIS Kids offers a values-driven Family of Services that provides trauma-informed, strength-based services through a counseling center, a training institute, eight group homes, a supportive housing apartment complex for single and parenting youth of ages 17 – 24, adoption services, and a host of in-home services designed to help children, youth, adults and families unlock their potential for self sufficiency and good citizenship.

J.D. McCrary/International Rescue Committee 

Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, J.D. McCrary was formerly the Director of Resettlement Services at Lutheran Service of Georgia (LSG). J.D. began his work with refugee services as their Associate Director in 2008. Prior to joining LSG, J.D. was Global Field Program Manager for Jumpstart International, overseeing a global non-profit program that provides employment and reconstruction services to war-torn Iraq and Palestine. J.D.’s overseas experience includes a volunteer stint with the US Peace Corps in Morocco. He has over 12 years of management experience spanning both the corporate and the non-profit sectors, all with an international focus. J.D. holds a Masters in International Development from Tulane University, with a focus on human rights, public policy and emphasis on Africa and the Middle East. He also has a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Georgia State University and is a certified teacher with a B.A. in Education from Georgia Southern University.

Trace Haythorne/Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.