We help tech help people.
We help tech help people.
All of us at Techbridge are proud to be a part of the best community of leaders, innovators, and philanthropists out there. With our Techbridge Award Series, we recognize outstanding community members throughout the year with several distinguished awards.
Nominations for this year’s awards open and close at midnight on .
Individuals nominated for this award demonstrate excellence at a national or civic level, exercise exemplary social or corporate responsibility, play a leading role in advocating for volunteerism, and provide an outstanding contribution to community service efforts.
Individuals nominated for this award are an outstanding volunteer or staff member of a nonprofit organization in Georgia who engages the wider community to assist in-need and at-risk community members. The recipient demonstrates an understanding of technological innovation and social entrepreneurship.
This award recognizes chief technology or chief information officers exhibiting exceptional qualities and abilities. The Ed Steinike CIO Award was first given in awarded to an exceptional CIO demonstrating a passion for mentoring and commitment to philanthropy.
A nominee for this award conceptualizes, strategizes, and launches the venture, and navigates the evolution of the business model and is a founder, owner, or past owner of the business at the time of the nomination allowing for selling the business or acquisition arrangements.
This year’s nominations are closed. Thanks to all who took the time to nominate a worthy candidate!
Community Leader Award
This award commemorates Vish Narendra and his incredible work for and with TechBridge. Vish is a co-founder of the Technology Career Program and is a consistent supporter of TechBridge.
Vish Narendra TCP Graduate of Excellence Award
This award commemorates Vish Narendra and his incredible work for and with TechBridge. Vish is a co-founder of the Technology Career Program and is a consistent supporter of TechBridge.
Bill Bolling Nonprofit Leader Award
Former CEO of CHRIS 180, a trailblazer in trauma-informed care and youth advocacy.
President & CEO of Sheltering Arms, ensuring young children and families thrive through early education.
Julio Carrillo, CEO of Hope Atlanta, recipient of the Bill Bolling Nonprofit Leader Award, for his visionary leadership in addressing homelessness and driving systemic change.
VP of IT Enterprise Applications at ANDMORE, championing tech for business transformation and empowering underserved communities.
Client Engagement Executive at Hylaine, a dedicated volunteer leader across Atlanta’s tech and nonprofit sectors.
Carrie Bates Hastings, Director, Atlanta at Apparo – Business and Tech Solutions for Nonprofits, recipient of the Ann Cramer Volunteer Award, for her unwavering dedication to connecting nonprofits with tech solutions that transform communities.
Karen Cramer is the VP of data, technology, and impact at Purpose Built Communities. She leverages over two decades of nonprofit management and development expertise. In her role within the Impact Team, she implements Purpose Built Communities’ measurement framework and implements an integrated data system for Purpose Built Communities, network members, and community partners.
Elevance Health is a lifetime trusted health partner whose purpose is to improve humanity’s health. They support consumers, families, and communities across their entire healthcare journey — connecting them to the care, support, and resources they need to lead better lives.
For over 24 years, UST has worked side by side with the world’s best companies to make a real impact through transformation.
James M. “Jay” Bailey is a dynamic force committed to his unwavering motto, Build As We Climb.
With a transformative vision, he embodies the essence of a leader and emerging philanthropist. Bailey directs his life’s mission towards uplifting others.
As the President and CEO of the H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), Bailey leads the world’s largest entrepreneurial hub. RICE is dedicated to growing, scaling, and developing Black businesses: in just four years, under Bailey’s visionary leadership, RICE supports over 500 entrepreneurs full time, generating an impressive $184 million in annual revenues, supporting 2,153 community jobs, and sparking a staggering $478 million of new economic impact in the Metro Atlanta area. Bailey and his team have transformed RICE into an economic empowerment and innovation powerhouse.
An Atlanta native, sought-after speaker, three-times TED Talk speaker, and die-hard Georgia Bulldog, Bailey has a proven track record of success. His leadership and commitment to the community have been recognized by three U.S. Presidents. In , he was one of eight Americans honored at the White House as a Champion of Change: Following in the Footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In , President Barack Obama bestowed the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award on Bailey in recognition of his dedicated volunteer service.
Bailey has been recognized with the prestigious National Point of Light Award, named one of Atlanta’s Most Admired CEOs by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, ranked on Atlanta Magazine’s POWER 100 list of the most dynamic leaders in the city, and honored by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential leaders in Georgia.
Bailey is a devoted member of the Atlanta Rotary Club, dedicated to the motto Service Above Self.
His remarkable board service includes roles on the Georgia Chamber and Metro Atlanta Chamber Board of Directors. He serves as a Board Director for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and Invest Atlanta Foundation, as well as the founding Chairman of Citizens Trust Bank’s Next Generation Advisory Board.
Focused on education, Bailey serves on the University of Georgia Board of Visitors, as an Agnes Scott College Trustee, as a Board Director for the Atlanta Speech School, and on the Executive Board of the Veritas School of Social Sciences. He is a nationally recognized landowner and serves as a trustee for the Georgia Forestry Foundation. Bailey will launch the Black Land Institute in the fall of .
An esteemed graduate of Leadership Georgia, Leadership Atlanta, and the Regional Leadership Institute, Bailey has earned numerous accolades. Among them are the Whitney M. Young National Community Service Medallion, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Service Award, the Maynard Jackson Community Impact Award, a Atlanta Business League Man of Influence, the Startup Atlanta Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Bernie Marcus Downtown Economic Impact Award. Bailey takes great pride in being a dedicated member of Alpha Phi Alpha and the 100 Black Men of Atlanta.
Bailey resides in East Atlanta with his beloved wife (NBC News correspondent Blayne Alexander) and their two cherished daughters.
TCP Cohort: Summer 2021 Goodwill of North Georgia Microsoft Azure
TCP graduate: Certified System Administrator for ServiceNow & Professional Scrum Master I
UPDATE THIS WITH COHORT INFO
Williams also works on personal development projects and takes on freelance web development clients, combining creativity with practical problem-solving. She holds certifications from Microsoft and IBM.
CIO — One Inc.
Arun Kandel is the CIO of the Southern Poverty Law Centeer.
Arun Kandel is a people-first technology leader who believes IT should empower mission and people. As CIO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, he has transformed a fragmented tech environment into a cohesive, secure, and service-driven ecosystem. Kandel has built a high-performing IT team, cultivating a culture rooted in trust, mentorship, and collaboration. His leadership enables cross-functional teams to work smarter, faster, and more effectively.
Kandel’s impact goes far beyond day-to-day operations; he’s passionate about lifting others. He has created tech internships for under-served youth, giving them real-world experience and a clear path toward meaningful careers.
Kandel‘s contributions earned him the Georgia CIO ORBIE® Award and KSU’s Five in Flight Alumni Award. The latter recognizes excellence in leadership and innovation. Kandel holds an MBA from Kennesaw State University and a B.A. in Computer Science from Capital University.
Kandel leads with humility, always uplifting others and proving that fundamental transformation starts by putting people first.
Founder & CEO — Goodr, Inc.
In after years of personally preparing and distributing meals to people experiencing homelessness, Crowe-Houston launched Goodr, a sustainable waste management and hunger solutions company that uses technology to reduce food waste and provide dignified access to nutritious food.
Under Crowe-Houston’s leadership, Goodr has redirected more than 25 million pounds of surplus food, delivered nearly 40 million meals and counting, and opened 28 free Goodr Grocery Stores across the country in schools, senior centers, and communities facing food insecurity. These stores empower families to choose healthy food with dignity and are central to Goodr’s scalable, long-term solutions to hunger.
Goodr has been recognized as a World-Changing Company by Fortune Magazine, and Crowe-Houston’s work has been featured in Oprah Magazine, Forbes, Fast Company, CNBC, and the New York Times. She has been named one of Goldman Sachs’ Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, the NBMAA Entrepreneur of the Year, one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Influential Female Founders, and one of Insider’s 100 People Transforming Business.
Crowe-Houston currently serves on the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Drawdown Georgia, the Wellstar Health Foundation, and the Invest Atlanta Emerging Markets Board, where she helps shape strategy at the intersection of health, climate, equity, and inclusive economic development.
Her book Feeding Hope will be released in .
Founder & CEO — PadSplit
Atticus LeBlanc is the founder and CEO of PadSplit, the country’s largest coliving marketplace.
CEO — WrightNow Solutions
A former global technology leader at The Coca-Cola Company and seasoned consultant with Ernst & Young, Mackey is known for aligning strategy, operations, and technology to enable scalable growth, operational excellence, and sustained business value.
Founder & CEO — PadSplit
Atticus LeBlanc is the founder and CEO of PadSplit, the country’s largest coliving marketplace.
LeBlanc founded PadSplit in to create lasting change in the world. He structured PadSplit as a public benefit corporation with a social impact mission to help solve the affordable housing crisis, one room at a time. Through its shared housing model, PadSplit aligns the incentives between property owners, cities, and renters. PadSplit currently offers 27,000+ rooms and has housed 60,000+ people across the U.S. The median annual income for PadSplit residents is $27,000.
Before founding PadSplit, LeBlanc spent more than a decade as an affordable housing developer. He continues to serve as co-founder of Stryant Investments and Stryant Construction, which specializes in adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
A recognized thought leader on housing solutions, LeBlanc has presented at MIT, UC Berkeley, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and regularly contributes to Forbes and other publications. He has served as the chair of the Urban Land Institute’s UrbanPlan Education Initiative, co-chaired the Design for Affordability Task Force in , and serves in multiple civic and volunteer capacities. He was named a Corporate Citizen of the Year in by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
LeBlanc graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Architecture.