Chad was a CPA who has worked in public accounting and corporate finance for over 30 years. He spent 22 years at Cox Enterprises, most notably as CFO of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After 5 years at Scientific Games, he spent the last severl years as SVP of Financial Planning & Analysis at Fleetcor, the Fortune 500 global payments company.

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Chad retired in December 2020 and moved with his wife, Susan, and a variety of dogs and cats, to Blue Ridge. He aspires to hike the entire Benton MacKaye Trail, write the next great American novel, continue his wine study, grow amazing vegetables and raise well behaved animals. And he enjoys becoming more involved in the community, both socially and by finding ways to contribute and give back. 

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Chad previously served as Treasurer of the Henry W Grady Healthcare Foundation, Chairman of the Media Financial Management Association, and member of the Team Selection Committee of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. He also holds an Advanced certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and hopes to continue thru their Diploma program.

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Chad was born in Ohio but grew-up in Southwest Florida. Before moving to Atlanta, he attended the University of Florida where he earned a BS in Accounting.
 

Suzanne is originally from Ohio, but first came to Blue Ridge over the New Year’s weekend of 2006 and promptly fell in love with the North Georgia Mountains.  She went from enjoying a part-time cabin in Mineral Bluff to living permanently in a home on Lake Blue Ridge for the past several years.

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Suzanne is the former owner/manager of North Georgia Storage and is currently active in community volunteering.  Her love for animals has been a lifelong passion and she cherishes sharing her home with two furry family members, Hobson and Duncan.  

In addition to the Humane Society of Blue Ridge, she also serves on the board of the Lake Blue Ridge Civic Association and is a Fannin Chamber Ambassador.

Jenny has over 30 years of financial experience and has spent the last 20 years as the CFO of fast-growing SaaS companies. She was recently the CFO of Zapier, a workflow automation SaaS platform. Before Zapier, Jenny was the CFO at MailChimp, a marketing automation SaaS platform.  Jenny retired from Zapier at the end of 2021 and is working part-time, helping small startups grow through fractional CFO work and growth advising. 

Jenny is a CPA and received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Georgia and received her Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Georgia State University. Jenny grew up in Detroit and she has lived in Atlanta since graduating from UGA. Jenny came up to Blue Ridge on a regular basis for day trips and long weekends until 2012, when she bought a home here. In July 2021, she made Blue Ridge her full-time home.

Jenny has always been an animal lover and was one of the first volunteers when the Georgia Aquarium opened. In her spare time, she loves to be outside hiking, mountain biking, or paddle boarding with her 1-year-old Shih Tzu, Archie.

Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Susan attended Auburn University graduating with a BS in Accounting.  It was at Auburn that she met her life-long friend and Blue Ridge Human Society board member, Tracy Allen.  

Susan began her career in public accounting at a local Atlanta CPA firm where she spent 4 years as an auditor for large real estate and development firms.  Moving into the corporate world, Susan spent 27 years in various accounting roles in the commercial real estate investment sector.  The majority of those years were spent with AXA Financial and Morgan Stanley.  Retiring in early 2018, Susan ended her corporate career as VP responsible for portfolio accounting and global investment accounting systems.  

Currently, Susan is the primary caregiver for her Mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s.  She moved to Blue Ridge in early 2021 and beginning the next phase in her life with her husband (Chad), Mother, three dogs, and three cats.  Susan has a future goal of returning to culinary arts school to become a Pastry Chef.

Susan is no stranger to philanthropic service.  She was involved in the St. Louis Arts Festival (among the top 10 largest art festivals in the U.S.) as co-chair of the Volunteer Committee for two years. She served three years on a committee responsible for the Annual Boots and Blue Jeans Fund Raiser for the Henry W. Grady Foundation.  Susan was responsible for establishing the annual Morgan Stanley Halloween Party at Hughes Spalding Hospital (10 years running).  

Wendy grew up in Connecticut but has lived in the Atlanta/Ellijay area for over 25 years.  She, her husband, and her dog Kendall, live full-time in Ellijay and they all enjoy the mountains as much as possible.  All the animals in her life have been rescued.

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Wendy joined the board of directors of HSBR in 2011 and served until 2016.  She took a break and came back in 2020 and focuses on Marketing.  She has been in business for herself for over 14 years with expertise in graphic design, e-mail marketing, and web design. 

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When not working, Wendy and her husband love to hike, cook, travel, and spend time with friends and family (her in-laws moved to the cabin next door from MA!).

Tracy Allen and her husband, Phillip Daw, moved to Mineral Bluff, GA in September 2010. They are HUGE animal lovers & proud foster ‘failures’ and lovingly share their lives with 7 dogs, 6 cats, 2 goats and 30 chickens. Tracy has retired but was a Physician Assistant. In 2011, she started volunteering in the sorting room of the Humane Society of Blue Ridge Thrift Shop. She joined the HSBR board in 2014 and has ‘never looked back’; great cause, amazing organization and fabulous/ motivated people - who all love animals. What’s not to love??

Kathy is currently semi-retired after nearly four decades working in various office and financial administration positions. For the past twenty-two years and counting, Kathy has been serving with Biglife, a non-profit global discipleship movement that she helped to launch in 2000.

A wife, mother, and grandmother, Kathy is also an adopter of two HSBR pups - Rusty and Kona. Kathy enjoys all that this beautiful North Georgia community has to offer and is grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside the people who make it so special.