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Intown Cares Announces New Appointments to Board of Directors
- communications2473
- Mar 9, 2025
- 3 min read
New directors to contribute strong financial and social impact leadership experience
ATLANTA – February 6, 2025 – Intown Cares, a leader in addressing homelessness and hunger in Atlanta, today announced three new appointments to its Board of Directors: Erika Hardy, Executive Director of Marketing, Eli Lilly; Karen Sedatole, Ph.D., Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Accounting, Goizueta Business School, Emory University; and Rev. Sean Smith, Pastor of New Horizon Baptist Church and Senior Advisor for Faith Affairs, City of Atlanta. The directors have each been appointed to serve a three-year term, with an optional term renewal.
About Erika Hardy
Erika Hardy is the Executive Director of Marketing at Eli Lilly, where she oversees all global and U.S. marketing initiatives targeted at healthcare providers for a leading neuroscience brand. Her career spans both sales and marketing, with a focus on brand development across various molecule lifecycles and disease states, as well as strategic planning, operations, and execution.
Erika earned a Bachelor of Science in biopsychology from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Health in toxicology. She furthered her education with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
About Karen Sedatole
Karen Sedatole is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Accounting at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. From 2020 to 2022, Karen served as the Interim John H. Harland Dean. Her expertise in strategic planning, organizational design, performance measurement, reward system design, and financial planning is based upon two decades of research working with for-profit and nonprofit organizations in a variety of industries, including healthcare, retail, tech, and automotive. Karen holds a PhD in business administration from the University of Michigan, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Baylor University.
About Rev. Sean Smith
Rev. Sean Smith has been the pastor of the New Horizon Baptist Church since 2001. He also serves as Mayor Andre Dickens’ Senior Advisor for Faith Affairs. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Rev. Smith is a graduate of Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism. He received a Master of Divinity from the McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, where he was awarded an Outstanding Academic Achievement recognition and was a recipient of the William Ollie and Nell Ray Key Excellence in Leadership Award. Throughout his ministry, Rev. Smith has served both church and community in a variety of capacities: M.L. King Merchants Association, Co-Chair of the Atlanta Continuum of Care Governing Council, Islamic Speakers Bureau Advisory Council member, Cascade Ministers Fellowship, Atlanta Ministers Union, NAACP, and the Ethics Committee for the mayoral transition team.
The new directors join the following existing members: Aaron Chaiken (Board Chair), Randall Allen (Board Vice Chair), Sunil Ghatnekar (Board Treasurer), Joanna Genser (Immediate Past Board Chair), Brad Schweers (ex officio), Lindsey Barranco, Kelly Goldston, Bill Humphries, Alexandra Kirk, Timothy Lee, Alex Romeo, Rob Shields, Dara Simmons, and Rebecca Wallace.
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About Intown Cares
Intown Cares is the nonprofit that goes the extra mile to help Intown Atlantans meet their most essential human needs – housing and food. We specialize in serving those who have the hardest time getting housing make the transition to their own homes, and we provide easy access to food for any who need it. Intown Cares is defined by persistence. The people we employ, the process we follow, and the perspective we share are all guided by a single, unifying idea: solving hunger and homelessness requires imagination, flexibility, and a willingness to take the extra step.
For more information about Intown Cares, visit intowncares.org. Also, connect with Intown on social media: @IntownCares on Instagram and Facebook
For media inquiries and interviews, contact communications@intowncares.org
To support Intown’s mission through financial contribution, visit intowncares.org/donate, or reach out to Tanya Frazee, Senior Director of Development at tanya.frazee@intowncares.org.
To get involved, sign up to volunteer on our portal, or contact food@intowncares.org for information on group volunteer activities or food drives.
I truly appreciate the insightful updates on the new board appointments. henry stickmin It's refreshing to see such a diverse group joining Intown Cares, and I wonder how their varied experiences will shape future initiatives!
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Seeing leaders from Emory and the City’s faith community on the same board feels like a practical step—data + policy + on-the-ground trust is a strong combo if it’s aligned. I’d be interested to know whether Intown Cares is planning any new collaborations with neighborhood groups now that the board is expanding. Weirdly, the “bringing different strengths together” theme reminded me of StyleLookLab and how mixing inputs can produce more workable outcomes.
Board announcements like this always make me wonder what changes behind the scenes—does it translate into more stable funding, better reporting, or just more connections in the community? The accounting/strategy experience in particular seems like it could help clarify what programs are actually moving the needle. Mild tangent: I once bookmarked this site for quick visuals, and it’s funny how communication/presentation ends up mattering even for nonprofit impact stories.
I like that this isn’t just “more names on a board” but a pretty intentional mix—marketing/healthcare, accounting/strategy, and faith/community leadership. With homelessness and hunger, coordination is usually the hard part, so I’m wondering how the board will help strengthen partnerships across the city without duplicating efforts. As an aside, I saw https://hrefgo.com mentioned elsewhere when I was browsing AI directories and it made me think about how much discovery/coordination problems show up in every sector.