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Laura Hope Whitaker CEO of Extra Special People, Inc

June 21, 2023 by Tom Sheldon

Northeast Georgia Business Radio

Laura Hope Whitaker CEO of Extra Special People, Inc

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Laura Hope Whitaker/Extra Special People, Inc

Extra Special People, Inc. (ESP) exists to create transformative experiences for people with disabilities and their families and to change communities for the better.

ESP envisions a world where every ability, in every community has universal access to transformative experiences.

Laura Hope Whitaker began volunteering with ESP as a special ed college student in 2003. She was named Camp Director at just 19-years-old after the sudden passing of their founder. Over the last 19 years, Laura has led ESP to growth and the expansion of their mission. She is passionate about leadership and uses her management strengths to manage staff, oversee multiple year-round programs and raise funds to run programs.

Our Community Partner for this episode of Northeast Georgia Business Radio is Bottom Line Tax Solutions. A giant thank you to Jacqueline and her team for their continued support. Bottom Line Tax Solutions specializes in the 3 “P’s” of income taxes: Tax Preparation, Tax Planning and Tax Problem Solving. Are you paying too much in taxes? You probably are! Bottom Line Tax Solutions saves their clients thousands in taxes each year; visit them today.

The Hardy Realty Show – Devon Smyth with ESP (Extra Special People)

April 10, 2023 by angishields

The Hardy Realty Show

The Hardy Realty Show - Devon Smyth with ESP (Extra Special People)

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Laura Whitaker with ESP (Extra Special People)

September 27, 2018 by Mike

Beyond The Cupola

Laura Whitaker with ESP (Extra Special People)

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“Beyond the Cupola” allows invited customers, community, and team members of Oconee State Bank to have an opportunity to share their stories of success and inspiration, and/or how the “Remarkable” culture of Oconee State Bank has inspired them to mark lives in their own right.

Laura Whitaker/Extra Special People

Extra Special People is the legacy of one woman who had a passion for children and young people with special needs, and a vision of a place where they and their families could focus on their abilities instead of their disabilities. Martha Wyllie founded Extra Special People in 1986, offering high-quality affordable programs for “people with different abilities.” Twenty-one children enrolled in that first summer camp. By the time Martha passed away in 2004, ESP was serving 130 campers with a budget of $150,000 and had acquired a small facility where children could be served on-site.

The year following Martha’s death, ESP Summer Camp was in danger of being eliminated because of lack of funding. When a young camp counselor, Laura Whitaker, heard this, she pulled together the families and made a call to the community to save camp by raising $50,000 in just a matter of months. The founder’s family appointed Laura as the new Executive Director in January of 2006.

Since becoming Executive Director, Laura has led ESP to expanded programming, and the organization now serves more young people than ever before. ESP runs weekend and after-school programs, family support programs, and events in addition to summer camp. After a 5 year capital campaign, ESP opened the doors on a 14,000 sq. ft. facility in Watkinsville in June of 2016. Every day, ESP continues to provide a safe place that individuals with disabilities can call their own.

Through the magic that ESP creates kids, young adults, families, volunteers, donors and staff are changed!

Chris Arrendale of Inbox Pros and Andy Green with Kennesaw State University

September 23, 2015 by Mike

Silver Lining in the Cloud

Chris Arrendale of Inbox Pros and Andy Green with Kennesaw State University

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Chris Arrendale/Inbox Pros

Inbox Pros is your partner in Email Deliverability. To this effort, they assist in evaluating mailing infrastructure set up, authentication, sender reputation, bounce and complaints management, list quality and permissions, domestic and international compliance, message content and delivery tracking. They also provide ISP remediation and outreach, domain specific volume and policy guidelines, and industry updates. Services include:

Deliverability Audits – This deliverability audit suits any client of any provider and will include a comprehensive report on the state of the ESP.
24/7 Monitoring & Alerting – Their monitoring alerts keep an eye on your email deliverability 24/7. These alerts monitor IP/domain blacklists, as well as IP/domain reputation.
Reporting & Analysis – They work with you to design custom reports for better overall email deliverability analysis.
Reputation Building – From IP warming plans to helping establish or rebuild your reputation, they are focused on achieving solid email deliverability.
IP & Domain Authentication – Making sure that you have the proper IP/domain authentication set up is a valuable piece to getting emails delivered.
Whitelisting Assistance – They look at your program and provide feedback on how to get white-listed with those ISPs and domains that accept white-listing.
Bounce Code Reasoning & Assistance – They analyze your bounces, determine the cause, and provide assistance on either suppression or getting those emails delivered.
Block Removal Assistance – ISP blocks can be difficult, but their consultants have expertise in working to get these blocks removed.

Andy Green/Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive university recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit, global engagement and sense of community. As Georgia’s third-largest university and one of the fifty largest public universities in the country, Kennesaw State offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degrees, including an increasing number of doctoral programs. Kennesaw State is committed to becoming a world-class academic institution positioned to broaden its academic and research missions and expand its scope on a local, national and global level.