Groundwork Atlanta recently appointed Heather Hussey-Coker as Executive Director to lead the five-year old local nonprofit organization. Groundwork Atlanta is a trust in the Groundwork USA network, which is focused on the environment, equity, and civic engagement in partner communities nationwide.

Through environmental projects near Proctor Creek, the Chattahoochee River, and other distressed areas, Groundwork Atlanta works to improve quality of life in Atlanta while sharing sustainable community development models through the network.

For fifteen years before joining Groundwork Atlanta, Hussey-Coker worked to advance sustainability projects and grow resilient communities through the implementation of the Atlanta BeltLine, both at the project’s advocacy organization, the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, and later at the implementation agency, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. She helped to transform underutilized land into one of the most impactful place-based projects in Atlanta’s history.

Hussey-Coker studied cultural anthropology at Emory University and regional planning at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She, her husband and two children live in Riverside, one of Groundwork Atlanta’s target areas just blocks from the Chattahoochee River.

"We are thrilled to welcome Heather to our team and have her lead Groundwork Atlanta, and our city, into a more sustainable future,” noted Carly Queen, president of Groundwork Atlanta’s Board of Directors. “As we enter our next chapter, we know that Heather's passion and expertise will be vital to advance our efforts to redevelop vacant and contaminated sites into community assets. Working closely with our neighbors and allies, we’ll continue to lay the groundwork for equitable and inclusive redevelopment that benefits the people and places in our city that need it most.”