Board of Directors

The members of the GCF Board of Directors represent a broad cross-section of experience or expertise in the areas of business, philanthropy, education reform, juvenile justice, faith-based initiatives, and poverty relief.

Kevin Russell, Chairman. Kevin is Principle of Russell Advisors LLC, a consulting firm specializing in business development. Prior to starting his firm, he was a Business Development Manager at bp. An alumnus of Berry College and Georgia State University, he worked with bp for 34 years holding Senior Level Leader roles in operations, marketing and sales. He is a founding committee member of the bp-GOAL Scholars Fund, GOAL's first named corporate donor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Avion Abreu. Avion is a Global Real Estate Advisor & Realtor with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty. She is an active volunteer with MUST Ministries and City of Refuge, Inc., and is a member of the Affordable & Equitable Housing Committee as well as the Governmental & Community Affairs Committee of the Atlanta REALTORS Association. Avion is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Joe Arnold. Joe is former SVP and Team Leader of the Not-for-Profit & Government Banking Division of Truist (formerly SunTrust). His Truist career experiences included serving as Treasury Sales Officer, Relationship Manager and Team Leader in the company's New York office which served Fortune 1,000 clients. Joe serves his community through board service at KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools, Atlanta Mission, YMCA of Metro Atlanta, Greater Atlanta Christian School, GACS Foundation, the Atlanta Area Council - Boy Scouts of America (advisory board), and Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Chris Cleveland. Chris is Head of School at Wesleyan School. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, and has served as president of the Atlanta Christian School Association and as a member of multiple SAIS re-accreditation teams on independent school campuses throughout the southeast. Chris, who earned his undergraduate degree from Auburn University and his Masters degree from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Andrea Dove. Andrea is Director of Business Development at HunterMaclean, a leading business law firm. She has over 17 years of experience in strategic planning and development for a variety of organizations including the United Way of the Coastal Empire, Historic Savannah Foundation, and Bethesda Academy. A native of Savannah, Andrea attended Armstrong State University. She is a member of the Legal Marketing Association and serves as an active parishioner at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Andrea is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Tim Embry. Tim is Former Owner and Chief Executive Officer of American Lube Fast, Inc., the largest privately owned and operated oil change and maintenance company in the United States. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Stan Epperson. Stan is Founder and President of Deli Provision Co., Inc., the distributor of Boar's Head Brand products in the metro Atlanta area. He is the treasurer and past president of the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation and a member and past chairman of the Duke University Brain Tumor Advisory Board. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Judge Barry Fleming. Judge Fleming was appointed by Governor Brian Kemp to serve as a superior court judge in Columbia County, effective January 10, 2024, following 20 years of legislature service and leadership in Georgia. Judge Fleming is the founding partner of the law firm of Fleming Nelson, LLP, in Augusta. He served as chairman of the Columbia County Board of Commissioners until 2002 when he was first elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. Judge Fleming received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia. He has served as chairman of the deacons and lay leader for the AWANA programs at Harlem Baptist Church and is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia Community Foundation, Inc.

Rick Gilbert, Chairman Emeritus. Rick is Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of Atlanticus Holdings Corporation. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Berry College in Rome, Georgia. He also serves on the Board of Lavender Mountain Senior Living Inc. and the steering committee for the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College.

Doug MacGinnitie. Doug is CEO of River Oak Risk, a captive insurance management company. From 2011-2015, he served as Georgia’s Commissioner of Revenue. Prior to that, Doug was an executive in the insurance brokerage industry. He served as a Director and COO of Beecher Carlson and was a senior executive at Hobbs Group. He has worked as a corporate attorney at both Alston & Bird and Georgia-Pacific Corporation. Doug serves on a number of governmental and non-profit boards, including the Truancy Intervention Project, a non-profit based in Atlanta, and Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Dean Mathison. Dean is Former SVP, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., a leading global exchange for the trading of energy and agricultural commodities and financial futures. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Gerard Robinson. Gerard is Vice-President for Education at the Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation and a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He formerly served as Secretary of Education in Virginia and Florida and as President of the Black Alliance for Educational Options ("BAEO"). Gerard serves on the Board of Directors of iCivics, the country's leading provider of civic education content. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Pastor Dexter Rowland. Pastor Rowland is the Senior Pastor of New Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia. From 2005-2012, he served on the Board of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. He is the past Chairman of the Board of Directors for the South DeKalb YMCA. Pastor Rowland, who earned his undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech and his Masters of Divinity degree from Emory University, is a member of the Board of Directors of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc.

Charles Tarbutton. Charles is President and a Director of B-H Transfer Co, a truckload motor carrier primarily serving industrial customers in the Southeast US. He is also President of Katahdin Management Company. Charles currently serves as Lead Director and Chair of the Safety and Nuclear Committee of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Power Company, Chair of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association, a Director of the Georgia Mining Association, Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc., and the Brentwood School Foundation. He is a past Chairman of the Board of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, The Georgia Railroad Association, Oconee Fall Line Technical College, and Leadership Georgia. He served on the Georgia Ports Authority from 2015 to 2020.