Atlanta Business Chronicle
By Wendy Bowman-Littler
November 15, 2002

A new nonprofit organization has opened its doors in Buckhead to create "a global tidal wave of economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs around the world."

Project Tsunami Inc. was launched Oct. 28 with a $150,000 seed grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City-based organization that focuses on entrepreneurship. Its mission is to help financial, governmental and other leaders become more savvy when it comes to providing women with the capital and credit, information and other resources they need to start and grow their small and midsized enterprises, said Linda Tarr-Whelan, one of the three co-founders of Project Tsunami and managing director of Tarr-Whelan & Associates, an international management consultancy in Washington, D.C.

Tarr-Whelan is co-chairing Project Tsunami with Virginia Littlejohn, chairman of TradeBuilders Inc. in Washington, D.C., and the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation's (OEDC) senior adviser on Women's Small and Medium Enterprises. Linda Muir, founder and managing attorney of The Muir Law Firm LLC in Atlanta, has been named CEO.

"To help women entrepreneurs around the world, we realized we needed adequate research and data; access to capital; networking and training opportunities so women could share the knowledge they had; and some way for this critical mass of women to connect together to make it happen," Tarr-Whelan said.

An integral part of Project Tsunami will be providing women with access to a global brain trust through the organization's Web site (http://www.projecttsunami.org) and various networking programs. The trust is expected to consist of 200 business leaders recruited from finance, corporations, government and international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, associations and business schools from 75 countries; all of the members will be brought together through high-tech tools such as Webcasting and online video conferences.

Initial members of the brain trust include Marie-Florence Estimé, principal administrator of the OEDC's small and medium enterprises unit and an ex-officio adviser to Project Tsunami, and Astrid Pregel, Canada's consul general in Atlanta.

Project Tsunami also will provide women entrepreneurs with an extensive database of current and new research, policy and practice in one place.

Tarr-Whelan said Project Tsunami is expected to have a $500,000 budget by the end of 2003.

Eco-merger

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) in Knoxville, Tenn., has announced it will merge with Georgians for Clean Energy (GCE) in Atlanta effective Jan. 1.

"We have very similar missions, which is what made the merger a logical decision," said Angelina Carpenter, SACE's deputy director. SACE was formed in 1980 to conduct programs concerning the environmental, public health and economic impacts of energy policies on citizens in the Southeast, while GCE was founded in 1983 to serve as a consumer and environmental organization specializing in energy issues.

"By combining resources we're being more effective with our money, and we're building a stronger environmental force by combining the knowledge that GCE has and the knowledge we have and working with the utility companies," Carpenter said.

SACE will continue to have its headquarters in Knoxville, while operating in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The Atlanta office will focus on Georgia's issues.

The merged organization will have a combined budget of $700,000 in 2003 and 11 staff members. SACE's current executive director, Stephen Smith, will serve as executive director and Rita Kilpatrick, GCE's current executive director, will be Georgia policy director in Atlanta.

New foundation

The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau's 11th annual Turkey Trot golf tournament Nov. 25 at the Bear's Best Atlanta course in Suwanee will be the inaugural fund-raiser for the ACVB's new nonprofit foundation.

The tournament is expected to net $150,000 to $200,000 for the ACVB Foundation Inc., which was formed during the first quarter to expand the reach of the ACVB's Cultural Tourism Initiative. The initiative, established in 1997, works to promote the metro area's arts and culture organizations.

The ACVB's president, Spurgeon Richardson, will serve as president of the foundation. Its purpose will be to offer arts marketing education programs to arts organizations, and to produce programs and collateral materials that will help inform the public about what there is to see and do in Atlanta through arts and culture.

Items now handled through the ACVB's normal budgeting process also could be moved over to the foundation, said Gregory N. Pierce, the foundation's treasurer and the ACVB's chief financial officer and vice president of technology. That could include issues such as panhandling and homelessness that affect the industry downtown.

The ACVB previously used a fund at The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Inc. to support the Cultural Tourism Initiative's marketing and education programs.

"The purpose is to consolidate the functions which have been split from a funding perspective between the ACVB and The Community Foundation into one entity under the ACVB," Pierce said.

The ACVB Foundation is actively raising funds to help solidify its budget. Plans call for having around $150,000 in the foundation's coffers by 2003, including money contributed by the ACVB, Pierce said.

The Turkey Trot is hosted by the ACVB and GCI/Grey Global Group Inc. in Atlanta. In addition to raising funds for the foundation, proceeds from the tournament also will go to the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Touchdown

SunTrust Banks Inc. and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation have teamed up to increase organized sports opportunities for children attending 20 clubs operated by Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.

The new Team Touchdown initiative will feature an after-school football program offering "NFL Flag" and "Punt, Pass & Kick" tournament and championship games for Boys & Girls Club members ages 6-16 and a Sports Equipment Drive for the Boys & Girls Club Nov. 19 at 10 select metro Atlanta SunTrust banks. The initiative also will include "Mingle with Mike," a special private gathering with Falcons quarterback Mike Vick, for the 40 winners of the program's "NFL Flag" championships Dec. 20 at the Georgia Dome. As part of the Team Touchdown program, SunTrust has pledged to donate $1,000 per Falcons touchdown, up to $50,000, to the Falcons Youth Foundation and its focus on the Boys & Girls Club.

If you have news for Nonprofit Business, contact Wendy Bowman-Littler at (404) 249-8004; fax, (404) 249-1058; or e-mail (wbowmanlittler@bizjournals.com).

© 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.