Meet Our Team
Meet our dedicated team of visionaries and experts, committed to driving change and fostering growth in communities through CHORD impactful initiatives.
Leon Ford
Founder
Leon Ford a Pittsburgh native, is a black survivor of a
police shooting. He has transformed his injury into activism, bridging divisions in his community to collectively envision a better future.
Garance Choko
Founder
Garance Chokois the CEO of Coda Societies. A black woman and an immigrant, she has built an extensive portfolio of mission-oriented designs and led the development of public spaces and institutional infrastructure that generate broad social impact.
Donna Gambrell
CHORD Team
Donna Gambrell is a steadfast advocate for lifting up and revitalizing our most vulnerable, low-wealth communities. She is also the longest-serving and first African-American woman to be appointed director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). She is currently a visiting, nonresident scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Susan Grant
CHORD Team
Susan Grant was the Executive Vice President of CNN News Services for over 20 years. She currently serves on several boards, including the Morehouse School of Medicine and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta as well as being active in issues of racial equity and homelessness.
Eric Glass
CHORD Team
An impact and activist investor looking to expedite environmental and social change by building equity into infrastructure, Eric has invested over $1.4 billion in historically excluded and low socioeconomic status communities with the explicit intention of reducing a disparity between the haves and have-nots within the built environment.
Jason Mckenna
Managing Principal
Jason is the Vice President of Global Educational Strategy for VEX Robotics. Jason is a published author and experienced educator. The author of What STEM Can Do for Your Classroom, Jason has an impressive record of developing and implementing successful research-based STEM education solutions. Jason has been named one of the Top 100 Educators.