LOCAL SALUTE

Atlanta International School Head of School Kevin Glass is the current chair of Horizons Atlanta.

Preventing the Summer Slide

Program gives students a boost

Cadence Bank presents a grant to Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs. Left to right: David Berdugo, Eric Swilling, Martina Edwards, Grace Covington Fricks, John Jackson and Chris Clay.

Symbiotic Relationship

Bank and nonprofit share goals

Along with providing loans and investments to local small businesses, Cadence Bank offers affordable housing lending options and joins forces with nonprofits and community developers through grants and direct investments that contribute to economic revitalization.

“In June, we awarded a $15,000 grant to Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. whose mission of granting loans to entrepreneurs aligns well with the bank’s,” says John Jackson, Atlanta division president with offices on Pharr Road.

“We’re all about engaging and understanding the needs of communities and encouraging our employees to volunteer,” he says.

ACE, the largest small business- centered community development loan fund in Georgia, is laser focused. “Our ‘secret sauce’ is providing capital, coaching and connections to help entrepreneurs acquire financial acumen” says Grace Fricks, president and CEO. “The grant will go toward our business advisory services.”

The nonprofit was founded by Fricks in 1997 while she was on the board of North Georgia Technical College. “There were students in the entrepreneurial program who couldn’t qualify for small bank loans, and we had access to $50,000. I was fascinated with the idea that we could do something different with capital that has a social impact.”

ACE has provided $135 million to 2,000 small businesses.

CADENCE BANK 800.636.7622 • cadencebank.com Buckhead’s Atlanta International School Head of School Kevin Glass was searching for a program boosting literacy in young people experiencing poverty. He was introduced to Horizons Atlanta, a national program founded in 1964. “It had the proven results we were looking for,” he says.

Glass quickly became involved in the six-week program that takes place at AIS, one of 10 Horizons’ sites for kids from rising first graders to rising ninth graders. Funding comes from foundations, AIS and individuals. He is the current chairman of the Horizons Atlanta board of directors.

Fifteen rising first-grade students are selected by teachers at Garden Hills Elementary for the six-week program designed to keep students on track during the long “summer slide” when kids who lack enrichment can lose academic skills. The emphasis is on literacy and math, but students also receive swim lessons, nutritious meals and enrichment activities. At summer’s end, Horizons Atlanta holds a fourth-grade swim meet for participating schools. “Teachers tell us that the program is transformative,” Glass says. “Ninety-nine percent graduate from high school.”

Atlanta has nine additional Horizons sites serving approximately 1,000 students. “Eventually we hope to reach students throughout metro Atlanta.” says Glass. “The program allows young people to become the best version of themselves as young scholars and opens doors that make a difference in their lives.”

ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL 404.851.3840 • aisschool.org • @aischool

HORIZONS ATLANTA • 678.995.5108 horizonsatlanta.org • @horizonsatlanta

New Heights for the High

Donation transforms collection

When Claudia Einecke became the Frances B. Bunzi Family Curator of European Art at the High Museum in 2018, she could have never dreamed what was on the horizon. The next year, Doris and Shouky Shaheen donated their entire collection of 24 impressionist, post-impressionist and modernist paintings—one of the most significant collections ever to enter a museum of comparable size. She was also stunned to have an opportunity to see the priceless art hanging on the walls of the Shaheens’ Buckhead home.

“It was quite amazing,” she says. “There was a Monet over the sofa, Pissarros in the dining room and a Matisse in the corner. To honor the couple for their generosity, we established the Doris and Shouky Shaheen Gallery in the Stent Family Wing.”

According to Einecke, the Shaheens’ gift transformed the museum’s 19th century art collection and lifted it to a new level, but they didn’t stop there. Since 2018, they’ve donated six additional works, including the museum’s first by Edouard Manet entitled Portrait of Madame Jules Guillemet that went on display recently.

Doris and Shouky Shaheen's donation to the High Museum transformed the 19th century art collection.

The Shaheens’ contribution to the High is just one of the couple’s philanthropic endeavors that include the Doris Shaheen Breast Health Center at Piedmont Hospital and the annual Shouky Shaheen Lecture at the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art. Doris passed away in 2020.

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART • 404-733-4400 high.org • @highmuseumofart