Laurel Creech is our emcee of the night. She oversees environmental initiatives including renewable energy, energy efficiency, green infrastructure, waste reduction practices, and outreach/ education via the program called Socket. Projects she is currently working on are helping implement the city’s first Climate Action & Adaptation Plan, increasing renewable energy, reducing built infrastructure’s energy consumption, fleet electrification, and overall greenhouse gas emissions mitigation strategies. Under her leadership, the Division has received two Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards and four U.S. Green Building Council Impact Tennessee awards.

Previously from 2010 to 2015, Laurel held three positions in the Office of the Mayor for Karl Dean including Sustainability Director, Livability Director, and Chief Service Officer. As one of the first ten Chief Services, she led the development of Cities of Service, a national movement to connect citizens to the greatest needs of cities in the United States. In addition to advising other Chief Service Officers across the country, Laurel served as the US delegate for the launch of Cities of Service UK.

Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office Laurel was the founder and director of Team Green Adventures with the goal to connect Middle Tennessee community to the outdoors through active and engaging events for all ability levels. She was also on-air talent on both WRLT Lightning 100 and WYYB The Phoenix. In 2009 after an interview with Mayor Dean, she co-founded Live on the Green with her fellow co-workers at Tuned In Broadcasting.

Laurel was nationally recognized as one of the Smart Energy Decisions’ inaugural Women in Smart Energy(WISE) in 2022, a Women in Sustainability Award for Local Public Sector in 2021, and in 2019 she served as a U.S. Delegate on the European Union Sustainability Delegation Tour. She currently serves on the boards of the Nashville Parks Foundation, Cumberland Trails Conference, and the Tennessee Nature Academy. She also serves on the Advisory Boards of Urban Green Lab, Tennessee Women in Green, and Walk/Bike Nashville. On a regional level, Laurel serves on the Southeast Sustainability Directors’ Network’s(SSDN) Steering Committee and is co-host of the SSDN’s Green Minds podcast. She is also an on-air radio air talent on two Nashville radio stations: WXNA 101.5FM and WMOT 89.5FM

Tyrone has specific responsibility for directing all financial advisory services and private placement activity. Prior to re-joining Red Rock Global, he was Managing Director of Redevelopment at Invest Atlanta. Tyrone is a graduate of Dartmouth College with degrees in Economics and Government, as well as the University of Chicago Law School and Booth School of Business, where he received his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees, respectively. He is past Chair of the Public-Private Partnership Council of the Urban Land Institute and was a participant in the Atlanta District Council’s Inaugural Center for Regional Leadership Development. Tyrone is also a graduate of the 2012 Class of Leadership Atlanta, the 2013 Class of Leadership Georgia and the 2013 Atlanta Regional Commission Leadership Institute.

Leocadia I. Zak became the ninth president of Agnes Scott College in July 2018. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mount Holyoke College, which recognized her as a Woman of Influence in 2012, Zak holds a JD degree from Northeastern University School of Law.

During Zak’s tenure, Agnes Scott has achieved record enrollment and fundraising, launched graduate programs and been recognized by U.S. News & World Report for innovation, teaching, first-year experience and social mobility. The college has continued to build its unique SUMMIT experience by adding signature components for professional success in the junior and senior years. The Sophomore Class Atlanta Leadership Experience (SCALE) provides a weeklong experience in a corporate or non-profit organization, while Applied Career Experiences (ACE), a one week, one-credit course, gives students an opportunity to make professional connections with community partners. With her appointment of the college’s first vice president for equity and inclusion, who now oversees the Office of People and Culture, Agnes Scott has further strengthened its commitment to community and to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. The college was designated as a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and launched its first JEDI annual plan in 2020.

Under Zak’s leadership, Agnes Scott developed a strategic plan, Pathway to Success, that will guide the college through 2026. Core themes of the plan are providing a transformative education, ensuring student success, building a culture of community and engaging the world beyond the campus. As president, she has also focused on improving the operational efficiency of the college and securing its financial future.
Zak is the immediate past board chair of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE) and serves on the American Council on Education (ACE) Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Georgia Independent College Association. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, International Women’s Forum (IWF) and the Truist Atlanta Advisory Council. In addition, she serves on the Metro Atlanta Chamber Innovation and Entrepreneurship Advisory Board (IEAB) and is a trustee of Global Communities: Partners for Good, an international non-profit organization.

With an extensive background in international economic development and international project finance, in 2010, Zak was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. USTDA is an independent federal agency that advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle income countries.

Before joining the public sector, Zak was a partner at the international law firm Mintz Levin, where she practiced international and domestic project finance in the Boston and Washington, D.C., offices.

Zak has taught international project finance as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University Law Center and Boston University School of Law.

Tim Echols got solar in 2010, and an EV in 2013. He has been urging Georgians to use clean energy since the day he arrived on the PSC almost 12 years ago. He created the Clean Energy Roadshow in 2011 traveling the state with a band of alt fuel enthusiasts each summer since then. He rented a train and called it the Solar Express. In 2013, Tim was the third vote that jumpstarted utility scale solar in Georgia. Tim started the EV Braintrust that meets quarterly to advance electric vehicles. With the encouragement of Southface President James Marlow, Tim created the 2019 net metering program, which he hopes to grow during this year’s rate case in December. And he even has a weekly radio show called “Energy Matters” that is approaching 200 episodes. Tim has been a clean energy and innovation champion and Southface is proud to call him a friend.

Gretchen Gigley serves as Program Director of GoodUse, Southface’s successful resource-efficiency grant program. This expansion includes developing regional and national portfolio partnerships, fundraising and implementing strategic marketing strategies. To date, the Nonprofit Solutions programs have positively impacted over 250 nonprofits around the nation, minimizing their environmental impact, increasing water- and energy-efficiency in their facilities, and ultimately saving these organizations mission-critical dollars. In her spare time, Gretchen loves to bake, sing and explore the world with her 7-year old son, husband and hound dog!

Doug believes that Atlanta is a place that invests in relationships before a crisis happens and a national model for the diversity that America is experiencing. He served for eight years as the Founding CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. He led the effort to design, build, fundraise and launch the Center successfully. He also supported Mayor Shirley Franklin to secure and pay for the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Collection. Doug’s work has been recognized by many Civic, Civil Rights, and Human Rights Organizations, including the Atlanta Business League, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Atlanta Urban League, the Junior League of Greater Atlanta, the Buckhead Rotary Club, and the Anti-Defamation League