Melanie is a senior executive with extensive international experience in the private and public sector. She has a proven track record with over two decades identifying and selecting interdisciplinary and diverse leadership talent. She is a trusted advisor to leaders from the grassroots level to the halls of power and experiences in  cultivating and building long-lasting stakeholder relationships. She has lead international initiatives and teams for global engagement and robust place-based/interest-based partnerships offering opportunities for mutual learning, innovation, and knowledge sharing for social and economic impact. Melanie is a board member, an accredited mediator as well as an experienced public speaker and facilitator.

Wade A. Hinton is a senior leader with extensive experience in the private and public sector in law, policy, diversity & inclusion, and external relations. Highly skilled in risk management and governance procedures and policies and a proven track record managing complex litigation and transactions. Previous roles include the office of General Counsel/City Attorney for the city of Chattanooga. He is also the founder of Board Connector, a local matching platform increasing diverse representation on philanthropic boards in Chattanooga. His passion for law, policy, and business has allowed him to be named one of the nation’s forty best advocates and business leaders under the age of 40 by both the National Bar Association and the Network Journal, and a 2018 Diversity Community Champion for Justice.

Gudula is an experienced Director of Operations and Finance with a demonstrated history of working in the legal, publishing, consulting and recruiting industry. She has been an integral member of senior management teams and is highly skilled in business operations, contract negotiation, change management, project management, HR, finance and IT projects. She provides effective and sound advice, fully understanding the requirements to support management teams. Gudula has excellent negotiation skills including reviewing contracts and streamlining operations to facilitate a more efficient and effective organisation. Before moving into the private sector she successfully completed a full military career in HM Forces.  

Dwayne currently serves an Advisor for the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. He primarily provides counsel on current strategic investments, forging local community partnerships and aiding in the expansion of CFGC’s emerging impact investing program which is focused on supporting the local entrepreneurship ecosystem. Dwayne is an alumnus of several civic engagement and leadership development programs including the New Leaders Council, Atlanta Black Jewish Coalition, Aspen Institute Socrates Program and the Independent Sector NGEN Fellowship. He formerly served on the leadership committee for the Community Foundation Opportunity Network (CFON) and is actively on the board of the Lilian S. Colby Foundation. Dwayne received his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree with a concentration in Organization Management and Marketing from the Roberto C. Goizueta Business School at Emory University.