COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER ATLANTA
Following his appointment in late June, Frank Fernandez has now assumed the position of president and CEO at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA). This moment is massive for the $1.2 billion foundation, as it is the first change in leadership since 43-year president and CEO, Alicia Philipp began her tenure in the late 1970s. After announcing her intent to retire late last year, the CFGA board undertook an exhaustive national search which led them to Frank Fernandez.
It is no surprise that CFGA ultimately chose a figure intimately familiar with Atlanta and its communities. Fernandez comes to CFGA from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, where he has served for six and a half years, first as vice president of community development and then as senior vice president. He is known for launching and leading extensive and wide-ranging community revitalization efforts throughout Atlanta’s historic Westside, while also directing the foundation’s youth development, social justice and international giving initiatives.
A Florida-native and son of Cuban immigrants, Fernandez first arrived in Atlanta for his job at the Blank Family Foundation in early 2014. Prior to that, he lived in Austin, Texas for more than 12 years.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Harvard University and briefly working as a financial analyst in New York, Fernandez moved to the University of Texas at Austin to get a master of public administration and economic development degree. He remained in Austin and quickly got an executive leadership position as deputy director of PeopleFund, a certified community development financial institution (CDFI) which provides financial and educational assistance to the disadvantaged communities of central Texas.
In March of 2006, Fernandez would be brought on to lead Green Doors as its executive director. He ultimately led the nonprofit for nearly eight years in its mission to prevent and end homelessness in central Texas by creating affordable housing, providing support services for disadvantaged residents and advocating for policy change. Fernandez’ tenure led to an astounding growth in the organization, increasing the amount of residents it serves by 685% and its budget by nearly 450%. Luckily for CFGA, this success clearly caught the eye of the Blank Family Foundation and would bring him to Atlanta.
Fernandez, embracing the challenge of leading one of the largest grantmaking foundations in the nation during a time of unprecedented societal crisis, expressed his thoughts in a blog post about his appointment: “Equity of opportunity is one of the primary social and racial challenges facing our region, and pursuit of greater equity for all has been my personal North Star for the past 20 years. I am humbled and excited to be invited to lead one of the nation’s premier community foundations at such a compelling time in the evolution of the South’s most dynamic metropolis and my adopted home.”
