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.
STAFF
Lauren Kiefer
Interim Executive Director
Lauren Kiefer has over 20 years’ experience as Chief Operating Officer of DocAuto, a software company headquartered in Atlanta. In that role, she grew the startup into a company with an international presence by developing internal teams and forming partnerships and relationships across the globe. The company’s client base includes the world’s largest law firms and accounting firms, and their software is also used by Fortune 500 corporate legal departments. Lauren is also an arts advocate and a passionate supporter of parks and greenspaces. She has deep roots in the arts community in Brookhaven and is thrilled to serve as Chair of the City of Brookhaven’s Arts and Culture Commission. She previously served as Board Chair of Georgia Shakespeare and spent several years on the President’s Advisory Committee of Oglethorpe University. She is a former Executive and Finance Committee Member of the Alliance Theatre Board, and she has also served on the Executive and Development Committees of Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. Lauren also serves on the board of HUB404 which will build a 9-acre park over GA 400. Lauren is a member of the 2023 class of Leadership DeKalb, a graduate of the Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta (Class of 2014) and an active volunteer for Leadership Atlanta (Class of 2013).
In her spare time, Lauren enjoys walking on the Peachtree Creek Greenway, attending the theatre, and laughing with friends and family. Lauren and her husband, David, reside in Brookhaven.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Joe Baiyor
Treasurer
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.
Alex Ortiz
Board Chair
Alex Ortiz is a Seattle native who's passionate about green spaces. He moved to Atlanta in 2009 and has been impressed by the transformation he's seen in the region in that time. He currently sits as the Interim Associate Vice President for Sustainability at Georgia Tech and hopes to continue to make a positive impact on the livability and sustainability of our community.
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.
Lauren Rock
Lauren is an Atlanta native who grew up steeped in the importance of community activism. Her mother co-founded the PATH Foundation, which Lauren continues to support. Another group she donates time and energy to is the Atlanta chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners where she contributes as a board member, Event Committee chair, and active member.
In her business life, Lauren is a Travel Concierge and the owner of Dynamic Escapes, a boutique travel planning company. She serves her clients by taking care of all the research and planning of their trips so they can simply focus on the fun to come.
Lauren, her husband, and their two children (and 2 dogs) are lucky enough to live within walking distance of both the PCG and PATH 400 and can't wait until the two trails connect!
Terry Son
Terry grew up in Gwinnett County where he thoroughly enjoyed parks and greenways. It provided serenity, a place to exercise and hang out with friends and families. He hopes to reciprocate the same joy he received from it by advocating and being part of Peachtree Creek Greenway. He is currently is the operations director at Forten Media, a video agency. He resides in Dunwoody with his beautiful wife and dog, Keely.
David Kerman
Coming soon
Mathew Groff
Matt has 10+ years in startup growth and marketing. He believes public greenspaces and walkable communities are vital for our future.
Mary Howell
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.
Meghana Rao
Meghana has spent 15 years as a HR business partner and talent management professional. She brings years of experience as a thought leader in organizational design, change management, early career and rotational development programs, career management practices, and diversity & inclusion.
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.
