VISION
Informed by decades of diverse experience in the civic sector and inspired by their parents and prior generations, Kim Anderson and Lesley Grady have spent their careers helping communities discern where challenges lie — and where new forms of collaboration can arise. They understand the profound need for co-created, social solutions that are adaptable to an ever changing landscape and sustainable over time. Shaped by a deep and expansive faith, they envisioned a safe, generative space where they could pair their passions and expertise, working together to help transform leaders, organizations and communities for the greater good. The result: Chrysalis Lab. For Kim and Lesley, it represents more than a career. It’s a calling.
LEADERSHIP
Kim Anderson, Principal
Kim Anderson is a nonprofit executive and attorney with proven expertise in setting corporate vision, engaging cross-functional diverse teams and influencing change. For decades, she has successfully initiated, expanded and managed organizations, strategically implementing programs, policies and strategies to achieve measurable impact. Kim is an awarded leader of Georgia’s oldest and largest leading non-profit family service agency, and also re-engineered the Southeast’s largest AIDS services organization.
Lesley Grady, Principal
Lesley Grady is a Principal with Chrysalis Lab, a premier social equity consulting firm. Lesley is described by her colleagues as a “catalyst,” “connector,” “synthesizer,” and “strategist.” Holding an MA in Public Policy and Economic Development, she has provided strategic and visionary leadership for over three decades as a senior executive within major philanthropic and economic development organizations. A highly respected and sought after advisor, Lesley’s professional and civic experiences have profoundly equipped her to leverage her capacities, relationships, and passions to establish and sustain authentic connections with a cross-section of diverse leaders to facilitate positive social change.
TEAM
Ayanna Grady-Hunt, M.A., PhD (in process).
Ayanna Grady-Hunt is a professional executive search consultant and communications strategist. Prior to launching Anise Recruiting, she served over a decade with BoardWalk Consulting, a national executive search firm. Ayanna specializes in identifying a deeply diverse cross-section of executive talent for nonprofit clients. Her recruiting statistics reflect her commitment to leveling leadership inequity – over 50% of her career placements have been women of color, over 60% have been people of color, and over 75% have been women. Ayanna’s executive search partners have included: the Center for Law and Social Policy; Southern Poverty Law Center; Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative; Big Brothers, Big Sisters; Year Up; Charlottesville Area Community Foundation; Rollins Center for Language and Literacy; and several President searches for theological institutions, including United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and Eden Theological Seminary (St. Louis, MO). Prior to her search career, Ayanna spent over a decade in strategic communications, serving part of that time with the Atlanta Mayor’s Office under Shirley Franklin, Atlanta’s first Black woman mayor. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Theology and Ethics at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.
Staci Lynch
Staci is a trusted and experienced philanthropic leader with expertise across the nonprofit and foundation landscapes in Atlanta. She has a passion for issues related to racial equity, education, and sustainable solutions. Staci’s specialties include Building Relationships, Stakeholder Engagement, Community Building, Project Management, and Effective Communications. Staci serves on the boards of the following organizations: redefinED atlanta, the Atlanta Speech School, and FORGE. Staci is on an Advisory Board for Seeing Whiteness for Anti-racist Action and consults with the Radical Optimist Collective. She’s a native Atlantan, a wife, and mother of two young people.
Justin Carr
Justin is a seasoned strategist who sits at the intersection of social impact and markets. His consulting practice focuses on brand and innovation strategy, and is centered in strategy development, qualitative research, program design, strategic communications, and stakeholder engagement. During his career, Justin has advised a diverse range of leaders at national foundations, Fortune 500 companies, social enterprises, and grassroots nonprofits. In this work, he leverages a rich base of cross-sector experiences to drive innovation and social impact. An active volunteer, Justin serves as a board member and advisor for several youth development and education non-profits.
Stephen Causby
Stephen Causby is an Account Executive with Civic Dinners, a conversation-based community engagement platform. He works with local governments, foundations and non-profit organizations to identify the right solutions to meet their needs. Prior to joining Civic Dinners, Stephen was Manager of the Community Partnerships Group at the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). In this role he managed the team that coordinates ARC’s core leadership programs (LINK, the Regional Leadership Institute, the Model ARC program and Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta) as well as the agency’s Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking portfolio and the Atlanta region’s Economic Competitiveness Initiative. From 2008-2015, Stephen managed the Community Choices program at ARC – an agency-wide initiative that provides local governments in the Atlanta region with resources and technical assistance to implement their quality growth plans. Stephen also worked on ARC’s planning and outreach efforts around racial equity. Stephen is a resident of the English Avenue neighborhood of Atlanta and a member of All Saints’ Episcopal Church. Stephen received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from North Carolina State University and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Mindy Kao
Mindy Kao is a dynamic project manager with a wealth of experience in project planning, oversight and implementation at the intersection of equity, community, and philanthropy in the Metro Atlanta region. For four and a half years, Mindy Kao served as a program associate at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, leading numerous grantmaking programs and philanthropic donor initiatives, primarily focused on strengthening community development, grassroots leadership and equity in the Metro Atlanta region. Mindy managed the Community Foundation’s equity efforts and positive systemic change, serving as a resource, driver and thought partner on embedding racial equity across the Foundation’s portfolios. She worked to develop and maintain strategic external partnerships with colleague foundations, businesses, governmental agencies and other key stakeholders to further the Foundation’s equity of opportunity goals. Prior to joining the Community Foundation, Mindy received her Masters of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech. She previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, conducting research on community and economic development trends and issues in the Southeast U.S. She currently resides in the historic Adair Park neighborhood in Southwest Atlanta with her partner Stuart and their precious dog and cat.
Elise Blasingame, MSW, PhD (in process)
Elise Blasingame is a senior policy and research professional with over a decade of experience in public service. Elise’s professional interests include policy advocacy, community infrastructure, strategic planning, and building the capacity of civic and non-profit organizations to make real impact for the communities they serve. Elise served as the Executive Director of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia (HMHBGA) (2015-2020). She is an alum of New Leaders Council Atlanta (2016), LEAD Atlanta (2019) and the Zell Miller Leadership Institute (2020) and served as the District 3- At Large Appointee to the City of Atlanta Commission on Women (2017-2020). Throughout her career, Elise has been a coalition leader and community organizer, leading winning campaigns to achieve policy change at the local, state and federal levels. This includes securing millions of dollars in government appropriations and private foundation support for public service programs. She currently serves as Parks Chair for her community in Adair Park and is a proud member of the Osage Nation (Wahzhazhe).
Kaseem A. Ladipo
Kaseem has extensive experience working with local, national, and international nonprofit leadership, coaching (executive and athletic), business management, and strategy. He is formerly the Executive Director of the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine, a New York-based organization that provides funding and supplies to support a full-service orthopedic hospital (FOCOS Orthopedic Hospital) in Accra, Ghana.
Prior to working with FOCOS, Kaseem was Executive Director of Horizons Atlanta, the largest affiliate of regional programs for Horizons National in Westport, CT – an affiliate network of summer learning programs focused on eliminating the summer learning gap for low-income students. Prior to Horizons Atlanta, Kaseem was Managing Director of Development for Teach for America – Metro Atlanta, where he led the region’s multi-year advancement campaign. He also had stints in wealth management as a banker for J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank and with The Breakthrough Collaborative.
Alicia Reeves
Alicia serves on the Chrysalis Lab team as a Researcher and Project Manager. She brings expertise in issues related to racial and economic justice, as well as program/project strategy development, implementation, and management in the social impact sector.
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