Director of Truth + Transformation Initiative

Darrin “DJ” Sims is a minister, teacher, community organizer, and strategist. He currently serves as Director of the Truth and Transformation Initiative at The Center. In this role, he leads The Center’s work which explores the truth of US history using strategies of memorialization, commemoration, organizing, education, and civic engagement.

He works with a wide range of community partners working in coalition and collaboration to create a civic architecture by confronting our history of racial discrimination and its manifestations today and charting collaborative a path forward on racial equity. 

As a community organizer, DJ has worked on several policy campaigns that allowed for early termination of probation for individuals and greater access to expungements for criminal records. He has also led a successful statewide campaign encouraging Black male civic engagement while also leading an anti-Capital Punishment campaign in Georgia.  

DJ received a B.A. in Political Science and History from Fisk University, and a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology where he received concentrations in Race and Religion, Leadership in Church and Community, and Criminal Justice as well as a Certificate in Black Church Studies.

His writing has been published in The Huffington Post, Facing South and The Journal for Law and Religion. DJ has helped strategize around social movements across the United States, Haiti and The United Kingdom.

Eric Paulk is a lawyer, advocate, and organizer. He currently serves as the Chief of Staff at ProGeorgia, Georgia’s progressive civic engagement table focused on ensuring that every Georgian is able to fully participate in our democracy.

Prior to his work at ProGeorgia, Eric served as Deputy Director at Georgia Equality, where he led the organization’s programmatic and advocacy work to protect and advance LGBTQ rights and the rights of communities of people living with HIV and vulnerable to HIV acquisition. As co-chair of the Georgia HIV Justice Coalition, Eric led successful legislative advocacy efforts, which resulted in Georgia reforming its HIV criminal laws.

He recently completed an 18-month Soros Justice Fellowship, where his work focused on building a network of Black lawyers to support Black communities impacted by HIV criminalization. Eric’s analysis, advocacy, and activism are featured frequently in a wide range of media.

He also regularly serves as a speaker at leading law schools and national advocacy conferences across the country. Eric is chair of the board of the Equality Federation, vice-chair of the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition's board, and a member of the Mayor's LGBTQ Advisory Board. He also serves on the Board of Governors for the National Bar Association.

Mr. Paulk graduated from Morehouse College and received his law degree from Pace University Law School.

After nearly 9 years of service on its Advisory Board, in January 2023 Tim’m was selected as the Executive Director of the LGBTQ+ Institute at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Tim’m T. West (he/they) is an educator, poet, youth advocate, and hip-hop artist who is a graduate of Duke (BA), The New School (MA) and Stanford (MA) universities. A creative, Tim’m is author of several books, is widely anthologized, and has also released more than 10 Hip Hop projects.

Tim’m served as inaugural faculty at Oakland School for the Arts, impacted outcomes as an English teacher and basketball coach at Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School for Public Policy (DC), and as Director of Youth Services at Chicago’s Center on Halsted. For nearly a decade Tim’m served as Senior Managing Director for Teach For America’s National Prism Alliances, advancing safer and braver classrooms for LGBTQ+ educators and students.

In January 2023, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights announced Tim’m, a long-time Advisory Board member, as the Institute’s new Executive Director. The LGBTQ+ Institute cultivates the next generation of advocates by engaging our most dynamic and diverse community organizations committed to human dignity. An influencer who is going into his third season of the Brave Educator Podcast, Tim’m recently relocated to Atlanta from his birthplace of Cincinnati, OH.

Richard Mabry is a junior at Spalding High School in Griffin, GA where his favorite subjects are British Literature and American Government. He is in the Arts Honors Society and was introduced to YOU(th) Belong at Compassion-Con Atlanta 2023 where he helped design the YOU(th) Belong soapbox.

Since then he’s been active in various YOU(th) Belong events, so much so that he wanted to help steer the direction of future program as a youth leader. Richard has brought his creative gifts to the YOU(th) Belong and has spoken on various panels. His is also a member of the first cohort of Georgia Youth Advocacy Fellows.

After graduation he hopes to attend college where he hopes to combine his interests in art with his apirations to become a therapy, with a possible specialization in art therapy.

Zoee Andrews is a Junior at Spelman College studying English with a minor in Public Health on the Pre-Law track. Throughout Spelman, she is involved in several organizations, such as The Morehouse Spelman Pre-Law Society, The Morehouse Spelman Undergraduate Law Review, Social Justice Program, B.L.I.S.S, ALD (Alpha Lambda Delta) and The Andrew Goodman Foundation. After her matriculation through Spelman College, she aspires to go to law school and become a Healthcare attorney and continue her dedication to justice extending justice to community projects, giving a platform to marginalized voices.

Osay Imarhiagbe is a design leader with over 10+ years of experience in crafting design strategy for large and medium sized institutions. He currently works as a lead experience design architect at AT&T. Building on an educational background in human psychology, Osay has worked previously as a district webmaster, web developer, project coordinator, and course instructor.

Osay’s previous clients include: the Georgia Department of Transportation, Fulton County Department of Housing and Community Development, Emory University, and the Clayton County School District.

He also currently serves as a lead organizer for the OpenIDEO Atlanta chapter, and is also a former Atlanta hub curator and current Community Champion of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.

Lawrence Sanford is a dedicated public servant who is active within his local and campus community. With an overarching goal of achieving health equity and eliminating oral health disparities, Lawrence aims to bridge his interest in public health, dentistry, and policy to provide quality, accessible services for under-resourced communities. He currently serves as an American Public Health Association Student Assembly Member, Morehouse School of Medicine Master of Public Health (MPH) SGA President, and valued member of the Stewart Foundation, which provides mentorship for Atlanta youth.

Lawrence is also active with the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) as an HBCU Pipeline Scholar, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, and the United States Dental Association as a student member. His commitments truly embody the ideal that service is the rent you pay for living on this Earth.

Lawrence is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, and a graduate of Talladega College where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. He is currently a Master of Public Health student at Morehouse School of Medicine. Lawrence's career ambitions are to enroll in dental school to become a dentist after matriculation through the MPH program.

Robert Masters is a life-long New Yorker who attended Queens College during the same period as Andrew Goodman. Robert and Andrew drove together from NYC to Oxford, Ohio in June 1964 to participate in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Freedom Summer training to prepare for their volunteer work in Mississippi registering African Americans to vote.

Currently retired, Robert was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Acadia Realty Trust, a fully-integrated equity real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition, ownership, management and redevelopment of high-quality retail properties located in key street and urban retail corridors as well as suburban locations within high-barrier-to-entry, densely-populated metropolitan areas along the East Coast and in Chicago.

Previously Mr. Masters worked in the banking sector, a private law firm, and the Department of Justice. He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo and Ghana, West Africa. Robert received his Bachelor of Arts from the City University of New York and his Juris Doctorate from New York University Law School. He currently lives with his wife Carla in White Plains, NY. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Andrea Young, is the executive director of the 22,000-member American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. She is a life-long advocate for civil and human rights. The ACLU of Georgia is a trusted, ethical, nonpartisan defender of our civil liberties: opposing threats to civil liberties; combatting voter suppression; supporting criminal justice reform; protecting freedom of speech, immigrant rights, and women’s rights, especially reproductive freedom.

Under her leadership, the ACLU of Georgia has reimagined its work on a framework integrating legal action, policy, advocacy, civic engagement, and communications. Prior to taking the helm of the statewide affiliate of the ACLU in January 2017, Young was an Adjunct Professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. For many years, she served as executive director at the Andrew J. Young Foundation producing a nationally-syndicated series of documentary films and other programs on themes of civil and human rights. Young has devoted her career to promoting policies to defend and extend civil and human rights. In the arena of national legislation, Young served as a legislative assistant to Senator Edward Kennedy contributing to significant civil rights and international policy including the Martin Luther King Holiday Act and South Africa sanctions legislation. She later worked with the United Church of Christ in global mission and advocacy, returning to the Capitol to serve as Chief of Staff for the first woman to represent Georgia in Congress, Cynthia McKinney. She served as Vice President for External Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, defending women’s right to reproductive healthcare.

As Vice President of the National Black Child Development Institute, Young led a school readiness initiative that increased local investments in early care and education and led to a commitment to universal pre-kindergarten in Washington, DC. Young is the author of Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me; co-author of Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta and collaborated with former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young in writing, editing, and researching An Easy Burden: Civil Rights and the Transformation of America. She has been recognized, nationally for her work as an advocate for civil and human rights. Young graduated from Swarthmore College and received her law degree from Georgetown University School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.

A Board member for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Young is married to attorney and art consultant, Jerry Thomas. She has one daughter and one granddaughter.

Michael Julian Bond, a fifth-generation Atlantan, has served as the Post-One, At-Large member of the Atlanta City Council since 2010. He was first elected to the Council in 1993 as the District Three member. Bond has been a prolific legislator—authoring and coauthoring more than 1,800 pieces of meaningful legislation which is more legislation per term than any other Council member in the City’s history. Bond is inspired by the Holy Bible’s account in John 13 of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. He believes that this spirit should be the symbolic guidepost for all public servants. A fierce advocate for the community especially for the “least of these, God’s children,” Councilman Bond began a partnership for a weekly food distribution program during the pandemic to help families needing assistance.

Gabrielle Slaughter is a dynamic leader born and raised in Atlanta, GA. She graduated with distinction from Spelman College in 2020, earning a degree in Political Science. Since then, Gabrielle has excelled as a Program Manager at The Andrew Goodman Foundation, where she plays a pivotal role in developing and empowering the HBCU cohort. In her additional capacity as Community Liaison for JustUs, a grassroots organization, Gabrielle spearheads initiatives to elevate civic engagement and drive social justice across the metro Atlanta area. Her work reflects a deep commitment to fostering community development and advancing equitable change.

Dr. Georgianne Thomas received her Doctor of Arts in the Humanities from Clark Atlanta University, her Master’s in Education degree from Georgia State University, and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Spelman College. Community activism, the arts and politics have all been large components of Dr. Thomas’ life.  Currently an Adjunct Professor at Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Dr. Thomas has worked with the City of Atlanta Municipal Court as a program manager assisting victims of domestic violence, as a trainer with the City of Atlanta, as a trainer with Delta Air Lines, and as an instructor in Atlanta Public Schools.

She is a former Mayoral Appointed Chair of the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission. In this position, Dr. Thomas was Co-Chair of the Sister Cities International, Inc. Convention, bringing the only convention to Atlanta in the 50-year history of the international organization. She is a recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Volunteer Award with Sister Cities International, and she was honored for her contribution to international awareness and involvement in the City of Atlanta with the Delta Torch Award in 2003, presented by the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 

She is founding chair of the Atlanta-Cotonou (Benin) Sister City Committee and served as the attaché for the Republic of Benin during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Dr. Thomas has served as a Georgia delegate to the National Summit on Africa; was former president of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Media Women; and was a pioneer member of the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ).  Dr. Thomas is an honorary State Senator in Georgia (2006); is the recipient of an Atlanta City Council proclamation for outstanding work in the community; and is an appointee to the Advisory Council of the Hemisphere, Inc. Free Trade Area of the Americas.  She is the former Chair of the Atlanta Commission on Women which develops programs to help promote women and girls issues as they relate to employment, education, sports, business, etc. Dr. Thomas has been a founder and member of numerous other organizations ranging from the Southern Christian Leadership Council, to Atlanta Neighborhood Planning Board, the African Chamber of Commerce, the National Council for Negro Women, and the Board of the Arts Exchange.

In her political life, Dr. Thomas has been a candidate for the Atlanta City Council and for Georgia State Senate.  She was elected to the Fulton County Democratic Party in 2002.  Dr. Thomas is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and is the proud mother of Rev. Alvelyn J. Sanders who herself is an artist and career professional of considerable note.

Charles Black was born in Miami, Florida, and came to Morehouse College in 1958. While a student at Morehouse College, Mr. Black was a member of the varsity debate team, president of the senior class and helped organize the sit-ins and other demonstrations against racial segregation in Atlanta. During the March 1960 demonstrations at the Georgia State Capitol and the Terminal Bus Station, he was arrested, along with 76 other students, and sent to the Atlanta Prison Farm for hard labor. He became one of the first student editors of The Atlanta Inquirer, a paper established by students as an alternative voice for their movement.  Mr. Black later served as the second Chairman of the Atlanta Student Movement, and one of only eight students taught by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is a 1971 alumnus of Leadership Atlanta.

 A veteran actor of stage, screen and television, he has starred in a series of faith-based films and regularly mentors younger generations of community and political activists on Civil and Human Rights. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor for a Lifetime of Community Service by President Barack Obama.

18-year-old Charles Person was the youngest Civil Rights Freedom Rider in 1961 and was one of the first 13 riders to encounter violence as his Trailways bus entered Alabama. Immediately after the Freedom Rides, Charles joined the Marine Corps, serving in Vietnam in 1965-1966 at Chu Lai south of Danang.

Evan Malbrough is a native of Smyrna, Georgia. He is a 2020 graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Public Policy, a minor in Cello Performance, and an inductee to Georgia State University’s 2022 40 under 40 class. At GSU, Evan was a founding member of his  Vote Everywhere, where he led civic engagement programming on campus. While pursuing his undergraduate studies, Evan served as a Summer Research Fellow at the United States Department of Defense, serving at the Pentagon. At the Pentagon, Evan worked in legislative affairs and worked to support the DOD Office of General Counsel.

Upon graduating, Evan became a 2020 Puffin Fellow with the Andrew Goodman Foundation. Evan founded the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project, recruiting 1,000 poll workers for the 2020 general election and 2021 runoff.  The ACLU of Georgia officially acquired the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project in December 2021, naming him a Voter Access Project Fellow between December 2021 - September 2023. As a fellow Evan worked to protect on campus early voting centers in Atlanta and supported ACLU GA's legislative initiatives. 

Evan is a writer who has published in publications such as Forbes, Teen Vogue, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After leaving the ACLU of Georgia, Evan served as the Managing Organizer of Georgia for Our Turn where he worked with APS students to create a student mental health community board district wide. Finally, Evan now works as a VoteFlare Associate at the Shorenstein Center for Media and Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and as the Senior Economic Policy Advisor at the Netherlands Consulate.

The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s mission is to make young voices and votes a powerful force in democracy by training the next generation of leaders, engaging young voters, and challenging restrictive voter suppression laws. The organization is named after Andrew Goodman, a Freedom Summer volunteer and champion of equality and voting rights who was murdered, alongside James Earl Chaney and Michael Schwerner, by the KKK in 1964 while registering Black Americans to vote in Mississippi. To learn more, visit www.andrewgoodman.org.

The Stewart Foundation Youth Leadership Program focuses on project management as a tool to develop characteristics needed for structured leadership. Our program emphasizes the fundamentals of communication, organization and planning as an avenue to open the gateway to leadership. The Youth Program develops 9-16 year old males and females with the use of curricula, that promotes self growth.

Since 1877, the Antioch Baptist Church North has stood in Atlanta as a beacon of hope and a place of refuge. For five generations, the congregational family has reached out and nurtured thousands of persons who have been counted among the least, the last, and the lost. As a Church Family, we celebrate our 133rd Anniversary with a renewed commitment to build upon the remarkable record of charitable Christian Service that has made Antioch one of God’s best churches.

Boasting nearly 600 members, the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. began as Sigma Chapter on January 1, 1924, the first chapter chartered in Atlanta and Georgia. The Chapter has led transformative public service programs and human service projects for the past 100 years—serving thousands of Atlanta residents, youth, and senior citizens. In honor of its centennial year, the Chapter awarded $100,000 in scholarships to high seniors and college students and $30,000 in grants to local community service organizations. Its trailblazing civic and political leaders include Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (Atlanta), Atlanta City Councilwoman Carolyn Long Banks, Fulton County Commissioner Nancy Boxill, Fulton County Commissioner Emma I. Darnell, Atlanta City Councilwoman Myrtle Davis, Mayor Patsy Hilliard (East Point),  NCNW Chair and corporate executive Ingrid Saunders Jones, State Rep. Sheila Jones, the first African American First Lady of Atlanta, businesswoman Burnella Jackson Ransom, and Atlanta Student Movement Foot Soldier, Filmmaker and Professor Dr. Georgianne Thomas, and former Atlanta Councilwoman Cleta Winslow.

Founded in 2012 and an initiative of the World Economic Forum, the Atlanta Hub of the Global Shapers Community is a group of young leaders (18-27) that seeks to meet the unique needs of Atlanta by using their diverse strengths together to amplify impact through their global network.