We’re excited to feature one of our awesome nonprofit partners, Livable Buckhead! Their mission is to create positive impact in Buckhead, so it is always an amazing place to live and work. Livable Buckhead brings residents, local businesses, workers, and visitors together to address a wide range of issues important to all of Atlanta – greenspace, alternative transportation, workforce housing, sustainable practices, zoning, public art – and does so by fostering relationships between groups with disparate priorities and chipping away at systemic inequalities that have been in place for generations.
Get involved with Livable Buckhead:
Read more about Livable Buckhead in our interview below!
Tell us about your organization – what’s your mission, and what does it mean to the our community?
We are committed to transparency, in-depth research, and an inclusive approach to tackling issues of concern. Livable Buckhead has created a model for collaborative governance and community trust-building that works. Being a small organization, we do this all through partnerships. Collaboration and inclusivity are two of our core values that we put into practice every hour of every day.
“In 2024, we are very excited about three upcoming events: PARK(ing) Day, Party on the PATH and the Miracle on Peachtree suite of programming which includes wreath decorating benefitting the police and fire departments, a tree lighting ceremony with the Atlanta Boy Choir and two separate hot chocolate crawls across Buckhead.”
Can you share some impact stats or comments about the work being done by your organization?
Livable Buckhead works every day to bring knowledge, innovation, and inspiration to community concerns. Many people do not understand that Livable Buckhead does not represent any one interest, but rather works to create a neighborhood where everyone who lives, works, and plays here feels their voices are heard and their perspectives are reflected in solutions. When trusted partners recognize the role that Livable Buckhead plays in bringing everyone in the community to the table and acknowledge their many achievements and goals for the future, their capacity to create sustainable change increases and they are more effective.
As an organization, Livable Buckhead regularly goes above and beyond to engage in and support its community partners’ activities and projects. You can regularly find the LBI team taking part in community service projects ranging from painting the local police zone, to cooking burgers for the north battalion of Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, clearing invasive species, helping to promote senior citizen events, donning waders to clean out a detention pond, and graffiti removal. The Livable Buckhead team is never on the sidelines - they are willing to jump in and do the hard work. They have SHOWN UP since 1999 and will keep on doing it because it is the right thing to do.
What’s the history of your organization? How and why did it get started?
Livable Buckhead and its predecessor organization “BATMA” formed during a time of extensive community strife. Recognizing that it would be impossible to create a culture of community sustainability under these circumstances, Livable Buckhead established a model of doing the community’s business that is inclusive and transparent...not only inviting, but requiring, everyone to SHOW UP and take part.
In the 1980’s, the building of GA400 highway spawned a bitter community battle that pitted developers against residents. The highway literally divided the community in half, severing neighbor from neighbor in an effort to get workers from northern suburbs to jobs in downtown Atlanta while also opening valuable Buckhead land for development. Residents were subjected to “negotiations” with an unaccommodating department of transportation and saw their future filled with gridlocked traffic while developers began designing their skyscrapers and projecting their profit margins. Dubbed the “scar that will never heal” by some residents, the highway eroded community trust and pushed the community firmly into two camps.
In 1999, the Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association “BATMA” was created out of the Buckhead Business Association with a mission to mitigate traffic from the coming development. BATMA’s board of directors hired an executive director fresh out of planning school, with three years at the regional planning agency under her belt, a penchant for tackling tough issues, a passion for bringing people together, and a commitment to going anywhere at any time to ensure that the whole community was engaged in decision-making. Under this leadership, the driving principle for BATMA and subsequently Livable Buckhead is all about showing up for the community.
What kind of programming do you offer to the community?
What problem is your organization trying to solve, and can you tell us more about the issue?
Over the course of two decades, through a series of community planning efforts built on open communication, strong public engagement, and transparency, Livable Buckhead created avenues for public engagement, helped everyone to work together, and slowly created a bridge connecting the dividing sides. Silos began to erode, and community discourse became productive. Throughout 10 major plans and projects, Livable Buckhead earned the trust needed to build a new diverse community table where everyone with a personal stake in the community is welcome. The social transformation achieved through this creative approach led to more equitable, sustainable decisions improving livability in the community.
How do volunteers support your mission? What impact do they have on your work? What difference do they make?
As Livable Buckhead has evolved into producing more community-based events and programming, volunteers have become an integral part of our organization. Not only do volunteers help to expand our staff's reach, but also provide an important conduit for community engagement. Without the hard work and commitment from our volunteers, we literally would not be able to do what we do.
What’s your biggest highlight or success from the past year?
Over the past year, Livable Buckhead has built up a large portfolio of successes, including community-wide events such as our buckheadRUN 5K, 100+ person bike ride on PATH400, Party on the PATH, and the Miracle on Peachtree Hot Chocolate Crawl. We've also hosted volunteer projects as diverse as waterway cleanups, graffiti removals, public art projects and first responder appreciation cook outs.
How many volunteers do you need every month, and can you describe the experience of serving with your organization for the volunteer? What do they do? What’s a day in the life as a volunteer with your organization?
Our volunteer needs fluctuate month-to-month, but an average month will see the need from between 10 to 30 volunteers across a range of experiences and skill sets. No day is the same, and our volunteers will find their experience as challenging as they want it to be.
What types of projects do you offer? What are your biggest projects available, and needs from volunteers? Tell us about a few different offerings.
Because of our multiple program areas, volunteers can find the projects that suit them best, whether it's checking in guests at party, planting native flora, clearing invasive species, setting up tables and tents, and even helping wrangling llamas.
Who is your volunteer manager, and what’s their favorite thing about working for your organization?
Donna Dodson, our community engagement manager, heads up our volunteer management, in collaboration with Helen Petersen, our sustainability manager. Both came to Livable Buckhead for the mission-based work, and thrive in the dynamic environment, where every day brings both a new challenge, and a chance to improve our community through engagement.
What do volunteers love about working with your organization?
In our follow-up communications to volunteers, the theme that weaves its way through is one of fun and sense of accomplishment. We approach all the events and projects with volunteers through the lens of positive engagement. Not only should our volunteers leave with a feeling of having made a difference, but we also want them to leave with a smile on their faces, wanting to come back.
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