The Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) today announced the launch of ATLeaders – its first ever council comprised solely of business professionals under 40. The council will focus on providing young leaders with access to the business community, a network of their peers and the ability to create social impact, specifically in the areas of transit and food insecurities. The new committee was introduced last night in front of hundreds of young Atlanta professionals during a kickoff party at Ponce City Market.

The council is chaired by Fred Roselli, senior director of communications for Boys & Girls Clubs of America; and co-chaired by Jennifer Hall, environmental affairs general manager at Georgia Power; Amol Naik, corporate counsel at Google; and Tyler Rogers, pied popper of partying at King of Pops. It has a 25-member steering committee and is open to all MAC members under 40. 

“Atlanta is truly a city where young professionals can come and make their mark,” said Roselli, chair of ATLeaders. “Today, more than 70,000 young professionals, ages 20 to 39, call Atlanta home, and the city is one of the fastest-growing metros for this demographic in the country. In order to maintain this growth and set Atlanta’s next generation up for success, we launched ATLeaders. Everything we do now plays an integral role in the future prosperity of our city.” 

The creation of the council comes as the global economy prepares for a workforce shift between Baby Boomers and the younger Generation X and Millennials – who combined will make up 75 percent of the workforce by 2020. According to Forbes, a majority of today’s young professionals, including 63 percent of Millennials, do not believe they are being fully developed as leaders. This is triggering higher turnover rates as employees under 40 look for opportunities to work on projects that they are passionate about. 

The ATLeaders council will help bridge this gap for companies by serving as a vehicle for their young professionals to increase their engagement around issues critical to the economic development of the region – transit and food insecurity. Following this week’s launch, the ATLeaders council will form workforce groups that will partner with diverse social impact organizations including Advance Atlanta, Cyclehop, Georgia Organics, MARTA, Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture and WeCycle.

“The council members that comprise ATLeaders are on their way to the C-suite, leading community organizations and more,” said Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “My vision is that one day these council members will also serve on MAC’s board of directors, and boldly lead our organization into the future. I’m confident that ATLeaders will drive transformative change in Atlanta.”

ATLeaders will meet on a quarterly basis to tackle the immediate needs of the organizations it supports as well as future initiatives. For more information and to become involved, follow @ATLeaders on Twitter and Instagram.