About the Peachtree Creek Greenway
The Vision
A multi-use trail connecting all communities along the North Fork Peachtree Creek.
The Mission
Advocating for the creation of the Peachtree Creek Greenway.
Peachtree Creek Greenway History
A group of local residents established our organization in 2013 in a grassroots effort to advocate for the creation of the Peachtree Creek Greenway along its namesake creek - connecting Atlanta, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Unincorporated DeKalb, and Doraville.
Peachtree Creek Greenway: A Dream Realized
The Timeline
2000
DeKalb County envisions a bicycle-pedestrian friendly path along the North Fork of Peachtree Creek as part of its county-wide trail network plan
2013
More than a decade later, local residents establish Peachtree Creek Greenway, Inc., a non-profit organization to advocate for the creation of the Peachtree Creek Greenway along its namesake creek - connecting Atlanta, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Unincorporated DeKalb, and Doraville.
2014
DeKalb County awards Peachtree Creek Greenway Inc. "Beautification Group of the Year" for Earth Day cleanup along Peachtree Creek.
2015
Brookhaven begins funding design for the city's 3-mile trail. Chamblee rezones Century Center to ensure public access and a pedestrian path along its 1-mile section of Peachtree Creek.
2016
Brookhaven approves trail design and establishes fundraising mechanisms to build the Greenway.
2017
Brookhaven secures millions in revenue stream to build trail from hotel/motel tax and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), one of the city's biggest employers, who is investing millions in the community to redevelop its N. Druid Hills campus.
2018
"Model Mile" groundbreaking occurs after Brookhaven uses the hotel/motel tax to create a $15M revenue bond for Phase 1 construction. PCG becomes a federally-funded transportation project when Atlanta Regional Commission approves $2.7M for Phase 2.
2019
Grand Opening of the first section of the Peachtree Creek Greenway in Brookhaven. The PCG is added to Chamblee's Multi-Modal Transportation Plan. Atlanta's Planning Commissioner, Tim Keane, speaks at PCG's Business Mixer held in Chamblee. Doraville sets aside $450k in SPLOST dollars for PCG.
2020
Atlanta's first section of the paved Greenway near PATH400 and I-85 is funded through the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act. Chamblee adopts the Universal Design Standards of the Peachtree Creek Greenway into their zoning ordinance. DeKalb County Department Directors of Transportation and of Parks/Rec begin ongoing meetings to bring PCG into DeKalb
2021
Planning begins for Phase 2 of the Greenway in Brookhaven. Further inroads into unincorporated DeKalb County, Chamblee, Atlanta, and Doraville anticipated.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Josh White
Executive Director
Josh White comes to the Peachtree Creek Greenway with a wealth of public affairs and fundraising experience. Most recently, Josh was the principal and founder of Foxhole Strategies, a public affairs and fundraising consulting firm which helped win elections, achieve legislative goals, and build public support for responsible public policies.
Josh has lived in Atlanta for more than 20 years. He and his husband live in the Ormewood Park Neighborhood. You can often find them walking their Boston Terriers, Lucy and Ricky, on the Beltline, which is two blocks from their home. Bringing a fresh perspective and passion to the Greenway’s mission, Josh is committed to building the connections necessary to realize our vision of a thriving Peachtree Creek Greenway.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Joe Baiyor
Joe has over 30 years of experience accounting for domestic and international non-profits, including fund accounting and preparing the annual tax filings. In addition to serving on the PCG Board, he is currently serving one international and one other domestic non-profit. He has significant accounting, regulatory and tax experience serving for-profit companies in a wide range of industries.
His extensive business experience includes integration of acquisitions for eleven private-equity groups with multi-state, multi-location and international companies. Joe has significant regulatory and payroll compliance experience for federal, state and local governments.
Steve Clowse
Steve moved to Atlanta in 1988 to begin a career in IT and management consulting. He has worked for Accenture, Home Depot, and a small consulting firm. Steve is currently a Program Director at Peraton, a federal government contractor. His primary client is CDC’s Division of Digital Media where his team provides IT application development and website support services for CDC’s website. Steve has experience in project management, business analysis, strategic planning, and organizational design. He is a walker, runner, and biker who is eager to see the Peachtree Creek Greenway grow to connect our communities and provide health and economic benefits to more people. He is excited to join the Board to increase awareness and action to make the PCG vision a reality. Steve and his wife, Fran, live in unincorporated Dekalb County.
Jeffri Epps
Jeffri L. Epps brings strategic thinking to organizations to help them achieve their goals, and is involved in planning, customer discovery and research, product innovation and development, compliance and other marketing services. Jeffri’s career has enabled her to work on businesses from Fortune 100 multinational companies to start-ups. Additionally, her experiences ranged from working with new products packaging, services, brick and mortar and online retail. As a strategic marketer, she works on high level business concepts to P&L impact and in market execution. Jeffri has held leadership positions with The Coca-Cola Company, Chupa Chups USA, WH Smith and Ralston Purina. Active in her community, Jeffri is an alumnus of the United Way VIP nonprofit board training program. Jeffri is a member of the Junior League of Atlanta. Jeffri has earned her Bachelors in Finance from Georgetown University. She has an MBA in Marketing from Atlanta University graduating Magna Cum Laude. In her spare time, Jeffri enjoys playing tennis, cooking and traveling. She has a personal goal of visiting all 50 states and 7 continents.
Ronda Fox
Ronda has lived near North Fork Peachtree Creek since 1964 – and for years, she never knew it was there! She is thrilled to be part of the discovery, clean-up and protection of this local treasure.
Ronda’s deep-rooted concern for our environment has heightened in the last decade because of extended visits to highly-polluted world capitals as well as travels to locales that value and protect air and water. She sees working toward transportation alternatives that make both the environment and the citizenry healthier as a golden opportunity to create a legacy for future generations.
With 30 years of experience in sales, building and managing sales teams, creating and developing new business entities, customer relations, and 15 years of business ownership with Standard Office Systems, Ronda looks forward to creating opportunities for all citizens to contribute to the success of the Peachtree Creek Greenway.
Raul Pino
Secretary
Raúl Pino is an almost-native of Atlanta where he came to study at Georgia Tech – and stayed for good. His career has taken him to places far and wide within and outside the U.S., including assignments in France, Canada and Chile. He has held different positions in private and public companies as well as at CARE, an international non-profit based in Atlanta in roles involving strategy, planning and execution. Raul is an avid traveler and hiker. He has hiked in the Camino de Santiago, the trail to Everest Base Camp, up to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the parks in Patagonia, and the majestic redwood forests of northern California among others. His first-hand experience of the transformation the Beltline brought about in the Collier Hills area made him an avid fan of PCG and, hence, joining the Board to help drive the vision and promise of the PCG trail.
Mary Howell
Board Chair
Mary has 20+ years of achievement in finance, accounting, commercial real estate and nonprofit board management. She explicitly chooses to pursue a career that energizes me and makes a tangible difference in people's lives.
Stephanie Runyan
Stephanie is a native of Atlanta and a long-time resident of Brookhaven. She has a passion for conservation, traveling, and scuba diving. Stephanie brings over 20 years of experience in leading organizations to achieve their strategic goals. She has worked with many Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits in the US and internationally. Stephanie is excited to contribute to the expansion of the PCG trail, connecting communities in DeKalb County.
Mitchell Dagley
Mitchell has lived in Atlanta for over 10 years in neighborhoods bordering the North Fork Peachtree Creek. His professional background spans market research, real estate investing, and private lending. Mitchell is excited to help advocate for the Peachtree Creek Greenway and realize the vision of expanding the trail to improve connectivity to northeastern Atlanta communities.
Andrew Costa
Treasurer
Upon discovering the Peachtree Creek Greenway on his bike, Andrew Costa developed a deep appreciation for this unique green space and its potential to connect the community. An active cyclist and Greenway user, he is committed to ensuring everyone may benefit from the Greenway.
Andrew’s professional journey spans over 25 years, building and leading technology solutions and teams for premier firms in the retail, banking, finance, and consulting industries. Currently a Management Consultant, Andrew enjoys turning complex challenges into practical solutions.
Andrew's non-profit experience includes serving as an Officer of a 30+ acre community HOA, leading efforts across finance, operations, strategic governance, and community engagement.
A resident of Brookhaven, Andrew is currently pursuing his studies at Wharton's Chief Technology Officer Executive Program and holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University.
Diana Hofsommer
Diana lives in Buckhead near both PATH400 and the Model Mile of the Peachtree Creek Greenway, both of which will ultimately connect into the Atlanta Beltline. After biking for years in a very bikeable college town, it was a rude and terrifying awakening to try it in Midtown when she first transplanted here. It's been a long time coming, but the reality of biking from home to Piedmont Park via dedicated pathways safe from vehicles will be a dream come true.
She's assisting the PCGI with her skills acquired from the business, government, and non profit sectors in marketing, finance, and development. She's usually picking up trash on daily walks anyway, so doing Creek Clean-ups with a group makes it fun. Being the change we want to see in the world is important, and so is voting to ensure the vision is realized.
Crystal Kadakia
Crystal is a strategic change leader with 15 years of experience across diverse industries and sectors, specializing in climate initiatives and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. As an independent organizational development consultant, Crystal has a proven track record in enhancing nonprofit organizations' capacity to fulfill their missions. Notable projects include leading a national structural transformation for the Sierra Club and advancing talent mobility and culture transformation at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
A published author of four books and an accomplished speaker with two TEDx talks, Crystal has contributed significantly to fields such as workplace culture, DEI, and instructional design. Her works include The Millennial Myth, Designing for Modern Learning, Social Equations, and Your Career. She is also a Georgia Master Naturalist and certified coach.
Crystal loves the outdoors and witnessing the awe of nature, starting from her roots exploring Austin, TX to traveling with her husband and son around the world today. Joining the board of PCGI, Crystal brings a wealth of experience and a passionate commitment to fostering environmental stewardship and community engagement.
Rebecca Dunaway
Summer Intern
Rebecca Dunaway joins the Peachtree Creek Greenway team as our summer intern. An Atlanta native, Rebecca is a rising sophomore at Tulane University, where she is double majoring in Environmental Studies and International Development. Her passion for sustainability and environmental protection has driven her to take an active role in our mission.
This summer, Rebecca will focus on invasive species education, helping to inform and engage our community about the importance of managing and preventing the spread of non-native species. We are excited to have Rebecca on board and look forward to the valuable contributions she will make to the Greenway.
FOUNDERS/ALUMNI OF THE BOARD
These founders and alumni of the Board engage with the Peachtree Creek Greenway, Inc. with their time, talent, and treasure.
