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Fun, Greenspace, and the Arts in Alpharetta, with Morgan Rodgers, Director of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Services, City of Alpharetta

April 17, 2024 by John Ray

Fun, Greenspace, and the Arts in Alpharetta, with Morgan Rodgers, Director of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Services, City of Alpharetta (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 764)

Morgan Rodgers, the Director of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Services for the City of Alpharetta, joins host John Ray on this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. As the “Minister of Fun,” Morgan discusses the myriad of activities and services offered by the City of Alpharetta to enhance the community’s quality of life. From the extensive network of parks and greenspaces designed for accessibility and community engagement to innovative arts and music programs aimed at enriching residents’ experiences, Alpharetta showcases its commitment to being a vibrant, fun-filled city. The episode also touches on bond-funded projects enhancing the city’s infrastructure, community-driven initiatives like the rebuilding of the Wacky World playground at Wills Park, and the strategic use of music and the arts to foster a dynamic community atmosphere. Additionally, Morgan shares unique offerings like adult sports leagues, community agriculture, and health and wellness programs, underscoring Alpharetta’s imaginative approach to community service and engagement.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Morgan Rodgers, Director of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Services, City of Alpharetta

Morgan Rodgers is an experienced recreation and parks professional with extensive and varied leadership experience. He currently serves as the Director of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Services for the City of Alpharetta, Georgia.

Prior to his role in Alpharetta, Rodgers held director-level positions with the City of Roswell, Georgia Lockheed Employee Recreation Club, Jekyll Island Authority, Rome/Floyd County Recreation Authority, and Moore County, North Carolina.

Rodgers holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation and Parks Administration from Clemson University, where he graduated with honors.

He is a Certified Park & Recreation Professional (CPRP) and has been recognized with the Mike Daniels Leadership Award and Roy Hammond Leadership Award from the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association.

In addition to his professional work, Rodgers is also an author, having published four books: three novels, Family Business, Past Sins, Timing…The Key to Life, and a management book, One Line Management.

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Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
01:23 Introducing Morgan Rogers: Alpharetta’s “Minister of Fun”
01:48 Exploring Alpharetta’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services
04:56 Morgan Rogers: A Lifetime in Recreation and Parks
07:45 Alpharetta’s Commitment to Greenspace and Community Connectivity
12:40 Revamping Wacky World: A Community-Built Playground
17:04 Bond Projects and Enhancements in Alpharetta
21:30 Alpharetta: A Music City with a Plan
26:14 Innovative Programs and Future Plans
30:43 Closing Remarks and Resources

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 760 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show welcomes a wide variety of business, non-profit, and community leaders to get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

John Ray, Business RadioX - North Fulton, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors — **John Ray, Business RadioX – North Fulton, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors**

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Elena and James Thornton with Arizona Consortium for the Arts

September 12, 2023 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Elena and James Thornton with Arizona Consortium for the Arts

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Elena and James Thornton with Arizona Consortium for the Arts

Arizona Consortium for the Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, all volunteer, community organization. The consortium’s vision is to establish a multicultural, multidisciplinary arts space/center with an open door policy.

The center will provide a home for all activities and foster artistic growth for people of all ages through the participation in the arts. It will be a home for many wonderful community organizations and groups, creative and innovative activities and projects representing and celebrating our diverse community.

We are dedicated to creating a connection with our community and provide a platform for social bridging through artistic, cultural and educational events. We inspire, engage, involve, give voices and visibility, celebrate, and connect our communities by providing innovative programs, activities and publications.

Our programs help nurture and support underserved and economically challenged populations through the transforming power of the arts. We are reflecting and representing the distinctive character of our region and explore, share and provide opportunities for the compelling expressions of arts and culture.

The consortium provides support for emerging and established Arizona artists spanning all disciplines and offers free access to the arts for the general public by hosting cultural, arts and performance arts events. We aim to advance, unite, collaborate, partner, connect, and engage individuals and community organizations in all aspects of arts, performing arts, literary arts and cultures in Arizona. We publish three online arts and literary magazines. The Blue Guitar, The Blue Guitar Jr. and Unstrung. It is free to submit.

Elena Thornton, Founder/CEO, Arizona Consortium for the Arts Charity is originally from Moldova, one of former Soviet Republics. Elena’s formal education is in the Secondary Education, she holds both a B. A. and M.A from the University at Albany, NY.

Elena has more than 30 years of hands-on experience in the education, business and the nonprofit sector. She also held positions as a Director of an after school program and a Director of Training for a Phoenix based company and traveled throughout the US and abroad.

Elena’s education and career experience combined with real-life experience makes her the successful organizational leader she is today. Currently, together with the Arizona Consortium for the Arts Board of Directors, volunteer coordinators and advisors, she is spearheading the efforts in developing relationships through networking and partnering with local Non-Profit organizations that will bridge resources and forge collaborations with individuals, public, private and government organizations and agencies, educational institutions, business community to reach their goals, objectives and ultimately build and sustain a multicultural arts and performing arts center facility.

Working closely with all the entities, she is confident they will have the resources, skills and knowledge that will enable them to continue on their path to success, grow and leave a legacy for the next generation.

Elena is also a Best Selling Author. She is one of the contributing authors in the 1 Habit For Success – SmartFem Special Edition book. The day it was published it ranked #2 for Business Leadership on Amazon Best Seller list.

Elena is a Photographer. Since 2010, together with her husband Jim Thornton they covered many social and nonprofit events in the valley. Their works have been published in magazines and are covers of several books. Elena is an artist and exhibited her works in galleries as a solo artist and in group exhibitions through arts groups.

She has won 2 art awards. Some of her works are in private collections in the US and abroad. She is a Published poet. The Freedom to Journey On, a collection of poems, two short stories and artwork and is available on Amazon.

In 2022, Elena and Jim filmed a short comedy in Hawaii, directed by Kimber Leigh, written by John Kestner and won for best cinematography in one of the film festivals.

Connect with Elena on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Stephanie Donaldson, Johns Creek Arts Center

May 2, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Stephanie Donaldson, Johns Creek Arts Center

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(North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 454)

Three weeks into Stephanie Donaldson’s tenure as the new Executive Director of the Johns Creek Arts Center, COVID lockdowns hit. Her experience in the organization, starting years before as a volunteer, coupled with her dedicated team of employees and volunteers, proved to be a potent combination, one that resulted in the Center reopening only eight weeks after lockdowns to provide summer camps for children. Joining host John Ray, Stephanie recounted her journey with the Center, her determination to be open for the community, their numerous programs and community outreach, the mental and psychological therapy that art delivers, the many ways the community can help, and much more.

North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Johns Creek Arts Center

The Johns Creek Arts Center was founded in 1996 as the Warsaw-Ocee Arts Center with the purpose of providing art services to audiences in north Fulton County.

The organization changed its name to the Johns Creek Arts Center in 2006 when we moved into our current location on Abbotts Bridge Road in the City of Johns Creek. The arts center facility boasts an outstanding clay and ceramic studio, a digital arts lab, and instruction in a wide variety of visual media. JCAC also has an expansive outreach program that conducts classes and workshops in more than a dozen locations in surrounding communities.

The Johns Creek Arts Center strives to inspire artistic development by stimulating individual creativity and devising a catalyst for personal and community growth by providing quality art instruction and outreach programs.

The Johns Creek Arts Center’s vision is to be a community arts center providing affordable quality arts education to the residents of North Fulton and surrounding communities. We offer a wide and diverse variety of adult and youth classes, after-school art enrichment programs, outreach programs for seniors, and outreach programs for under-served low-income youth.

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Stephanie Donaldson, Executive Director, Johns Creek Arts Center

Stephanie Donaldson has dedicated nine years to the Johns Creek Arts Center. She began as a volunteer developing the “Student to Senior” program bridging together local high school students and residents at assisted living facilities to create art. Following this, Stephanie accepted the position of Registrar & Payroll Director. She developed a membership management program, directed the afterschool program at seven Fulton County Elementary schools, and created and executed the Center’s first Holiday Artist Markets.

In May of 2018, Stephanie was promoted to the position of Deputy Director. Within this scope, she oversaw the development of a new website for the arts center, worked to create community relationships for increased revenue through fundraising, sponsorships, and donations, and curated the Center’s first art auction fundraising gala in November of 2019.

In February of 2020, Stephanie was thrilled to be appointed Executive Director of the Johns Creek Arts Center. Unfortunately, the Center closed three weeks later due to COVID. Determined, Stephanie pioneered an opening plan to move forward 8 weeks later re-opening with 10 weeks of summer art camps. The Center’s doors re-opened in May 2020 with 300 children in camp during the first summer of COVID!

The Johns Creek Arts Center has been open ever since with growing enrollments in all programs and exhibitions. Proving hard work and dedication can overcome anything. Stephanie has served as a volunteer on many different levels; girl scout troop leader, basketball and soccer coach, president of band boosters, owner and operator of a rescue farm for horses and dogs.

Stephanie continues to give to her community, currently as a member of Leadership Johns Creek, Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce board member, Rotary Johns Creek North Fulton, and the School Governance Council.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

History of Johns Creek Arts Center; non-profit arts organization
Overview of services/programming they offer
Why are you important to our community?
How did you survive COVID as a non-profit?
Free community outreach programs
JCAC Staff
JCAC exhibitions
Initiatives for inclusivity

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven-ready, cooked from scratch meals to go they call “Let Us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.