ATL Life Magazine Holiday Edition 2021 by ATLLifeMag

ATL Life Magazine HOLIDAY EDITION

Holiday 2021 Issue 6 Volume 2

ATLLifeMag.com

Staff: Publisher- Teia Hill CEO & President- Halo Davenport VP of Sales & Operations- Elijah Summerour

It's definitely the most wonderful time of year. The Holidays are here! It feels like this year 2021 has zoomed by. Looking back on the year, we've had some great opportunities to meet, interview and feature a lot of amazing people and companies. From athletes, to entrepreneurs to major corporations and sports franchisesit's been quite the ride. I'm so looking forward to the growth that 2022 has in store for us! Happy Holidays everyone! Cheers.

Teia Hill | Publisher ATL | Miami | LA Life Magazines

ATL Life Magazine URBAN

LIFE

CULTURE

CONTENTS [ What's Inside ] www.ATLLifeMag.com Pg 2 Publisher's Note Pg 5 Atlanta Hawks making dreams come true

Pg 10 Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield's new food pantry in College Park

Pg 16 The Haute Monde's CEO Akesha Quashie

For Advertising Inquiries, Content, Subscriptions or Story Submission Publisher@ATLLifeMag.com | 770-940-0606

Pg 20 Illuminights at Zoo Atlanta

Pg 25 Three cities in Germany in talks with NFL to host future games

Pg 27 Portable North Pole App

To our Partners, Sponsors, and Supporters... Thank You!!! We couldn't have made this issue without you!!

1,500 GIFTS DISTRIBUTED TO YOUTH IN ATLANTA BY:

Atlanta Hawks & Santa For A Day

The Atlanta Hawks hosted a holiday party in collaboration with Santa For A Day, a non-religiously affiliated non-profit organization that answers letters to Santa from underserved children, ages 5-12, living in public housing properties and provides them with holiday gifts, basic needs, and educational supplies; and Atlanta Housing (AH), the largest public housing authority in Georgia. Hawks players Clint Capela, John Collins, Cam Reddish and Delon Wright made a surprise appearance at the party and were joined by members of Hawks Entertainment including Harry the Hawk, ATL Hawks Dancers and the Flight Crew as well as various team executives.

“We are grateful to have an opportunity to bring some holiday cheer to this special group of children in the Atlanta community with both gifts and with surprise appearances from Cam, Clint, John and Delon,” said Hawks Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility Andrea Carter. “To have Hawks players take the time to come here and connect with these families is what it means to be ‘True to Atlanta.’”

Joining the Hawks were volunteers from ‘Santa For A Day’ who joined together to distribute nearly 1,500 gifts to children and their families. The afternoon was full of fun holiday-themed activities, which included treats, games and arts and crafts.

“We’re so grateful to the Atlanta Hawks for surprising, delighting and bringing smiles to all of these children, helping to make this a holiday they won’t forget,” said Rich Gentile, the program’s executive director. “Our aim is to reach into as many of Atlanta’s most underserved areas and demonstrate, by example, the healing power of ‘goodness in the face of adversity.’”

As part of an on-going partnership between Santa For A Day and AH, the two organizations work together to reach children in local communities and provide them a safe method for contacting families to both collect children’s letters for Santa and later distribute the presents.

“On behalf of the Atlanta Housing board and staff, I extend holiday greetings and a warm thank you to our partners Santa for a Day and the Atlanta Hawks for their generosity to our young residents and their families,” said Atlanta Housing President and CEO Eugene Jones, Jr.

The Hawks continues their ‘Season of Giving’ initiatives, which has also included providing more than 150 students with new eyeglasses vision screenings and new eyeglasses through a partnership from the Atlanta Hawks Foundation, Vision To Learn and Fulton County Schools. In addition, earlier this month, the Hawks and Georgia Power teamed up for a tree-lighting event, featuring Hawks star John Collins, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base (Marietta, Ga.) and provided about 100 military service members with Christmas trees and other gifts. For more information about the Hawks’ efforts in the community, visit Hawks.com/community

# TrueToAtlanta #

Hawks Players Clint Capela, John Collins, Cam Reddish and Delon Wright Surprised Families as Part of Special Event in Collaboration with 'Santa For A Day' and Atlanta Housing

Photo Courtesy Kat Goduco Photography

ABOUT THE ATLANTA HAWKS Committed to entertaining and uniting the city of Atlanta since 1968, the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena, under the leadership of Principal Owners Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz, continue to build bridges through basketball by following its True to Atlanta mantra. On the court, the Hawks’ exciting young core is led by All-Star point guard Trae Young as the organization received the NBA’s top ranking in overall in-game experience for the last two seasons. Off the court, the Hawks organization focuses on positively impacting the lives of Atlantans through providing access to youth basketball, fighting food insecurity, and the recent transformation of State Farm Arena into Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct for the 2020 elections. The Hawks family also includes the College Park Skyhawks (NBA G League) and Hawks Talon Gaming Club (NBA 2K League). Atlanta Hawks Membership, which includes your seat for every home game for the 2021-22 regular season, is on sale now at www.hawks.com/membership or by calling 866-715-1500. For more information on the Hawks, log on to www.hawks.com or follow us on social media @ATLHawks. 9

Based on data from Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap study, approximately 1 in 5 kids in Atlanta are experiencing food insecurity.

Source: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield

It was my absolute pleasure to meet with Pam Stahl, President of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Georgia, Dr. Maisha Otway, Principal of College Park Elementary School and Jill Becher, Vice President, Planning and Execution, Marketing at Anthem, Inc. on a weekday afternoon to tour the facilities of the new Food Pantry at College Park Elementary school made possible by Anthem, Inc, Heart of America and iHeartMedia. The pantry was clean, bright, warm and welcoming all at the same time. The staff was excited and knowledgeable on every detail for the pantry and parent center. It was a very welcoming feeling. Here’s a peek at what I saw and learned about these amazing corporations and their efforts to combat food insecurity. 10

College Park Elementary School Food Pantry Design Elements

We considered the room as a multi-use space with particularly high walls. It was important to break up the perceived wall height which we have did with the use of colored bands and mounted “signage” to denote what each space is i.e. Food Pantry or Parent Center. Our color choices were based on simplicity (versus very trendy colors) so our audience can relate to them. The yellow is the happy mood lifter, the color blue is the tranquility color- one that promotes awareness and the color green is the calming color that enhances focus. We chose to accent the green wall in order to draw the eye to the length of the room. We consider it the most appropriate color to set the tone for the parent center. We tend to use color as a powerful architectural element and keep our accents strategic in terms of how we want the space to be perceived. Color has been used as a wayfinding element for ease of navigation and to give each of the two spaces their own identity. This improves the functionality of the overall space while giving the two parts a unified look. Besides color we have used partitions to separate both spaces. 11 These are also intended to give the parent resource center some privacy.

Pam Stahl- President of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Georgia

“ At Anthem, one of our key focus areas is social health. We know that people aren’t healthy if they don’t have a place to live, worried about a place to live, no education, food, and so we’re focusing on not just taking care of people when they’re sick, but helping people be well… in particular children. We are starting with four cities- as we’ve partnered with iHeart Media and Heart of America to identify the specific schools where there are children in need in these cities: Indianapolis, Atlanta, New York, LA. Specifically in Atlanta, College Park Elementary fit what we were looking for. To date we’ve delivered over 24,000 lbs of food to the school and we will be delivering food every month. It’s just a part of our mission to help people live healthier lives, and to improve the overall health of humanity.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Anthem, Inc. Launches Four-City Initiative with Heart of America and iHeartMedia to Combat Food Insecurity Anthem Inc. teamed up with iHeartMedia, the number one audio company in the United States, and Heart of America, a national nonprofit committed to educational equity, to help schools in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and Indianapolis combat food insecurity. The four-city initiative is focused on creating customized solutions to address hunger and lack of access to healthy food by building and transforming learning gardens and food pantries in high-need schools. With a goal to support communities where millions of children and families struggle with hunger daily, the Anthem-funded collaboration aims to provide practical, sustainable resources that will help schools in their nutrition efforts. "Having access to nutritious balanced meals is crucial for good overall health and is essential for children to learn and grow," said Shantanu Agrawal, MD, chief health officer at Anthem, Inc. "That's why Anthem is supporting Heart of America and helping transform school spaces into places where students can access nutritious meals, foster a deeper connection about the benefits of healthy eating and learn skills to help them lead healthy lives." "Being a companion to our communities is central to iHeart's mission, and we're proud to stand with Anthem and Heart of America to transform learning environments and increase access to healthy food across the country," said Hartley Adkins, President for iHeartMedia Markets Group. "Unfortunately, food insecurity is a challenge that millions of our listeners face, and iHeart is committed to using our platforms to make a difference in this space." Specifically, the Heart of America partnership will address food insecurity in the four participating cities by supporting highneed schools in their goals to provide healthy meals to students, transforming physical spaces to improve access to food and capacity to distribute healthy meals, and raising awareness around the prevalence of food insecurity in our communities. "For many families in poverty across the country, their children's most reliable sources of healthy food are the meals they receive from school. However, when schools closed during the pandemic, another pandemic of access to healthy foods was exposed," said Jill Hardy Heath, President & CEO of Heart of America. "At Heart of America, we know that resources matter, and I cannot think of a more important resource than the healthy food children need to live, learn and thrive. By helping schools transform a space addressing food insecurity and giving students and their families regular access to healthy food they can use to sustain themselves at home, iHeartMedia and Anthem are creating a sustainable solution for nearly 1,000 families across the country. We are incredibly grateful for this partnership." Heart of America has led in addressing education inequity across the United States for nearly 25 years by delivering highquality resources and engaging spaces to underserved students and campuses. Since its inception, Heart of America has rebuilt and revitalized nearly 800 spaces including school libraries, cafeterias, gymnasiums, college and career centers, tech labs and many more education spaces across North America. About Anthem, Inc. Anthem is a leading health benefits company dedicated to improving lives and communities, and making healthcare simpler. Through its affiliated companies, Anthem serves more than 117 million people, including more than 44 million within its family of health plans. We aim to be the most innovative, valuable and inclusive partner. For more information, please visit www.antheminc.com or follow @AnthemInc on Twitter. About the Heart of America Foundation Heart of America provides high-quality resources and transforms spaces in under-resourced schools, helping to close the gap in education spending by creating modern learning environments that are essential for children to reach their potential in a rapidly changing world. Through a six-step process that prioritizes listening and learning before taking action, HOA designs and transforms spaces, and builds partnerships, ensuring true collaboration and long-term sustainability. Heart of America has served more than two million students in need by distributing more than four million books, investing $4.5 million in technology, and transforming nearly 800 school libraries, cafeterias, gymnasiums, college and career centers, tech labs, and many more educational spaces in historically marginalized communities across North America. About iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc. [Nasdaq: IHRT] is the leading audio media company in America, reaching over 250 million people each month. It is number one in both broadcast and digital streaming radio as well as podcasting and audio ad tech and includes three business segments: The iHeartMedia Multiplatform Group; the iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group; and the Audio and Media Services Group. Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information. 14

haut monde /ˌhō ˈmônd,ˈˌ(h)ō ˈmänd/ noun fashionable society.

A N

E L I T E

E X P E R I E N C E

Your Way! info@thehautemonde.com

T H E

H A U T E

M O N D E

C E O

F O U N D E R

Akesha Quashie

I had a brilliant conversation with Akesha Quashie, the Founder and CEO of The Haute Monde concierge service here in Atlanta. She told me about her time growing up in Boston as a musician for over 30 years and how she ultimately landed in Atlanta with her new business. The chat left me inspired and wanting to know more! Tell me about your background: Well, I grew up in Boston and I was a musician for over 30 years. I’m of Trinidadian descent and I’m very much into my heritage. I played the steelpan for over 30 years, reading and writing music very heavily. I hung it up about 3 years ago and moved to Atlanta 5 years ago. What was your vision for starting your company? I'm always out and on the scene. It started in Boston, with me being a musician, I always attended a lot of events. There were a ton of parties, private events, concerts, club events, you name it. When I relocated to Atlanta, I was kind of alone, I didn’t have any friends in A tlanta. I would go out by myself a lot and I always posted my solo adventures on my personal social media accounts. During Covid, it seemed a lot of people were coming to Atlanta to find an outlet as many parts of the country were completely shut down. People would call or text me asking “Oh, where are you going? Do you know of any fun places that I can go while in Atlanta?” things of that nature. It got to the point where almost every weekend people that I knew from all over were coming into town in Atlanta and wanting to know all of the “hot spots” and where I was going or where they should go. That’s essentially how my business started. What is it about Atlanta that drew you in?

I would come to visit Atlanta and love it. I would tell people back home that I was moving there because of the culture, the people, the nightlife, and so many different things to do! I love the weather, the scenery, all of the restaurants and hotels and historic landmarks, buildings and attractions. I’ve always been an advocate for Atlanta. There is so much opportunity here in Atlanta, be it networking for business or just having a fun time with yourself or your family. Atlanta has something for everyone, whether you’re single, dating, married, married with kids, it’s just the place to be and there is always something to do! Did you have a specific set of goals in mind for your company at the start? I started out with a plan of just doing itineraries and telling people where they should go. As steam was picking up, I told myself… “I can offer more to my clients.” I found myself being a dating consultant, finding security details for clients who needed it, if someone needed a private chef- I could assist with that. As time is progressing, the company is growing as I’m able to offer more services to my clients. How do you find partners and vendors in Atlanta? What do you look for in a partnership? Honestly, Atlanta is a place where you have to know “people”. You have to build relationships with people and build trust with them and with the products and services that you are offering to them with the promise that you are going to deliver. For example, when it comes to reservations, sometimes it’s not always easy to get one here in Atlanta. But having a partnership with owners really helps me to get my foot in the door and to get that reservation. I make sure that my relationships with my partners and vendors are on the up and up at all times so that I’m able to be plugged-in if you will. Do you only service clients in Atlanta? At the moment yes, but we have big plans for expansion and branching out to other major cities in the country. What do you hope that your clients take away from the services that you provide? I want to make sure that everything that I offer is memorable to my clients. It’s an experience. A memorable experience at that. My slogan is “ An elite experience YOUR way.” The Haute Monde means a fashionable society of elites. To me, being elite is a mind set, it’s however you want to think, however you want to feel, that’s being elite to me. It’s your way. I want people to take away that experience is whatever they feel is best for them.

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ILLUMINIGHTS AT THE ZOO

Now - Jan. 16, 2022

ILLUMINIGHTS AT THE ZOO: A CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL These are not your ordinary holiday lights! Add a celebration of the wonders of nature to your Atlanta holiday event to-do list. Open now through January 16! IllumiNights is presented by Georgia Power, with additional support from Beacon Sponsor PNC. 5:30 – 9:30 p.m. (Last entry is 8:30 p.m.; certain blackout dates apply)

A nighttime lantern wonderland celebrating the beauty of the natural world. Stroll the Zoo after dark to be inspired by more than 80 animal lanterns – some up to 20 feet tall – depicting some of Earth’s most charismatic creatures. Each lantern is made and hand-painted by Chinese artisans, therefore representing thousands of hours of work. In keeping with Zoo Atlanta’s commitment to sustainability, each lantern also features environmentally-friendly LED lights.

LIGHT UP YOUR IMAGINATION IllumiNights at the Zoo is a breathtaking new addition to Atlanta’s traditions. Zoo Atlanta partners with Hanart Culture to bring an incredible new holiday experience to our city, with vistas of illuminated wildlife and awe-inspiring sights.

To purchase advance tickets: zooatlanta.org

THREE CITIES IN DISCUSSIONS TO host NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES IN GERMANY

DÜSSELDORF, FRANKFURT, MUNICH INVITED TO 'CANDIDATE PHASE' to begin discussions to host nfl regularseason football games in germany

The NFL, which has staged 29 games in London since 2007 and will play its 30th at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (October 17), is aiming to find the most suitable partner city for a possible expansion of the International Series into Germany. After an initial period in which expressions of interest were received from multiple cities, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich have been invited to proceed to the 'candidate phase' of the process. Those cities will now participate in deeper conversations about staging games in Germany. "Regular-season games are a key part of continuing the development of our German fan base by creating more excitement for the sport and more connectivity with fans and communities," said BRETT GOSPER, NFL Head of Europe and UK. " "The strong interest we have received from German cities underlines what a fantastic opportunity this is for a host, ranging from the significant economic benefits and global exposure to the chance to become a hub for the growth of the NFL's fan engagement, community and grassroots activities. "As well as identifying a stadium that is fully capable of handling the logistics of an NFL game, we want to work with a host consortium that comprises local and regional government, stadium ownership, local stakeholders and potential commercial partners. We want this to be a long-term partnership." The NFL has enjoyed a number of strong years of fan growth in Germany, where it now has 19 million fans. Weekly NFL television viewership on partners ProSieben and DAZN has grown by more than 20 percent annually since 2017, and millions of fans tuned in for Super Bowl LV in February, making it the third consecutive season of record German Super Bowl viewership. Germany is a leading market outside North America for NFL Shop sales, fantasy football participation and sales of the Madden NFL video game. German-born players are making an increasing impact on the NFL, with fullback Jakob Johnson becoming a regular starter for the New England Patriots during the 2020 season and two other Germans currently in the NFL as part of the International Player Pathway program, David Bada (Washington) and Aaron Donkor (Seattle Seahawks). In recent seasons Sebastian Vollmer won two Super Bowls (XLIX and LI) as part of the Patriots offensive line that protected quarterback Tom Brady, while Björn Werner was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Portable North Pole App THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!!

Plan your holiday festivities and bring the magic of the season to life. With the help of Portable North Pole, kids no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night to see Santa — they now have full access to him this year. You can connect with the big guy in the red suit straight from his sleigh throughout the holiday season and right up until Christmas Eve! To learn more, download the Portable North Pole app available on Apple App Store or Goggle Play 27 www.portablenorthpole.com