BUILDING A STRONGER FUTURE FOR ATHENS THROUGH EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP
GA Employee Ownership
Ambassador Program
Unlock the Power of Employee Ownership with the
GA Employee Ownership Ambassador Program
Interested in learning about exciting options for business succession that preserve jobs and community impact while benefiting business owners?
Passionate about transforming businesses into beacons of community wealth and inclusivity? Join us for a transformative experience.
Our 2025 cohort begins in November and will take place at 1:00 PM EST on the following dates: November 6, 13, 20 & December 4th (skipping Thanksgiving). Registration is now open.
What's in Store?
The Georgia Center for Employee Ownership Ambassador Program is tailored for professionals shaping the business landscape: business owners, economic developers, legal experts, financial advisors, chambers of commerce leaders, and more. Dive deep into the world of employee ownership through the eyes of those who've walked the talk.
Forge meaningful connections with fellow participants and seasoned experts from employee-owned businesses. Explore how to seamlessly integrate newfound knowledge and valuable connections into your existing professional toolkit.
Why Employee Ownership Matters
Forge meaningful connections with fellow participants and seasoned experts from employee-owned businesses. Explore how to seamlessly integrate newfound knowledge and valuable connections into your existing professional toolkit.
A 4-Week Journey to Ambassadorship
Forge meaningful connections with fellow participants and seasoned experts from employee-owned businesses. Explore how to seamlessly integrate newfound knowledge and valuable connections into your existing professional toolkit.
Let's Shape the Future Together
Join us in empowering businesses, creating legacies, and fostering an inclusive economic landscape. The GA Center for Employee Ownership Ambassador Program is your gateway to a world where businesses thrive, communities flourish, and legacies endure.
Ready to be part of this transformative journey? Click below to register!
Mark Your Calendar
Thursday, November 6, 1:00 PM EST
Thursday, November 13, 1:00 PM EST
Thursday, November 20, 1:00 PM EST*
Thursday, December 4, 1:00 PM EST
*Skipping Thanksgiving
Can't make it this time? No worries! Future cohorts are on the horizon. Reach out, and we'll make sure you stay in the loop!
Week 1 - Introduction to Employee Ownership (EO)
Dr. Taura Taylor is a Morehouse College assistant professor with research interests including: sociology of education, social determinants of health, social movements, and entrepreneurship, all of which converge into her express interest in intersectionality and micro-level resistance.
Dr. Taylor’s approach to teaching revolves around her belief that college has the potential to foster enlightened citizenship by teaching students how to relate to others as members of a community. Thus, as an instructor, her goal is to facilitate this process by cultivating a learning environment where students value diversity, respect alternative perspectives, challenge their proclivities towards unfounded opinions, and think critically about a myriad of viewpoints and interpretations.
Dr. Taylor’s instruction and allyship centers and explores how effects of social divisions such as race, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, and political affiliation impacts worldviews and life chances. To preserve and advance her students’ wholeness and integrity, she advocates for their holistic well-being. Overall, she strives to hold space for students to tap into their wholeness and see themselves as agents of social change and members of local and global pluralistic communities.
International Comparative Labor Studies (ICLS) was established in 2017 to create pathways for Morehouse graduates to enter social justice careers in leadership, research, and community organizing. HBCUs have played an inextricable role in fostering scholars who spearheaded academic disciplines that support the advancement of human and civil rights in the South.
ICLS seeks to embed the labor studies discipline at Morehouse College and provide an education that examines the role of Black workers in the civil rights movement and American labor history to offer a 21st-century vision for sustainable meaningful work lives for African Americans and all workers. In the words of Morehouse Alumnus Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “all labor has dignity.”
The ICLS's March 2023 report "Employee Ownership for Black Workers: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap" is available at:
Read the Report
Terron Ferguson is CEO of YANCY Holdings, a lawyer, businessman, and global organizer. A 2022 Echoing Green Fellow, he advised U.S. Senator Cory Booker on economic and education policy on employee ownership.
A graduate of Morehouse College (BA, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and NYU Law (JD, 2015 convocation speaker) with study at the London School of Economics, he previously taught with Teach For America and practiced at the Equal Justice Initiative under Bryan Stevenson.
As a 2017 German Chancellor Fellow, he partnered with Universität Leipzig to lead a project on truth and reconciliation, exploring memory culture and historical justice.
Week 2 - Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
Mackenzie Gallagher is Chief Marketing Officer at JOMA Construction in Athens, Georgia. Originally applying for a carpenter position eight years ago, he was instead hired to manage marketing and IT—roles that proved pivotal in shaping JOMA’s brand and culture.
Drawing on experience in storytelling, videography, and digital engagement, Mackenzie has played a central role in building JOMA’s identity as a values-driven, employee-owned company. Now part of the management team, he contributes to JOMA’s transition into an ESOP, ensuring that its legacy of craftsmanship and community remains strong.
Kyle Wishing is a Managing Director at PCE, specializing in structuring and evaluating Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) transactions. He focuses on creating win-win-win outcomes: liquidity for owners, equity for employees, and tax advantages for companies.
An expert in business valuation, Kyle helps senior executives assess strategic transactions and exit options. PCE’s culture of collaboration allows him to deliver solutions across ESOPs, M&A, and management buyouts—always guided by client goals rather than deal type.
Week 3 - Worker Cooperatives
Jeremy Lekich is a Nashville-based ecological designer and founder of Nashville Foodscapes. With a background in biology and chemistry from Warren Wilson College, he blends scientific understanding with holistic land-stewardship principles.
Jeremy’s work centers on creating resilient foodscapes and regenerative landscapes. Drawing from experiences in the U.S., France, and with the Lakota community in South Dakota, he integrates permaculture and biodynamic design to strengthen local food systems and community resilience.
Roland Hall is a partner at Autry & Hall, LLP, a Georgia law firm specializing in representing cooperatives and their subsidiaries. With over 25 years of experience, he is passionate about supporting both new and established cooperatives of all types—electric, worker, producer, consumer, software, and agricultural.
Roland’s work spans from contract negotiation and governance issues for large cooperatives to assisting with cooperative formations. His firm is dedicated to advancing the cooperative movement through accessible and cost-effective legal services.
Week 4 - Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs)
Bill Heumann is the CEO of Heumann Environmental Company (HEC), leading the design and delivery of advanced technical and manufacturing solutions for air pollution control and industrial systems.
With over 40 years in environmental engineering, Bill previously led Fisher-Klosterman, Inc. as CEO and Chairman, expanding its operations internationally. He is a scientist, inventor, and author of the textbook Industrial Air Pollution Control Systems (McGraw-Hill, 1997), holding several patents and publications in leading industry journals.
Chris Michael is a financial advisor, economist, author, and professor. He founded the first U.S. financial firm dedicated to helping business owners sell their companies to Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), facilitating over $750 million in transitions benefiting more than 3,000 workers.
Chris introduced the EOT model to the U.S. and has published in Tax Notes and Probate & Property. He also serves as a professor at Rutgers University and director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.