The people who make it all happen.
Cathy Parker - CEO
Cathy Parker's life, as well as the lives of her family, has always revolved around athletics. Together with her husband, Carl, a coach and former professional athlete, they have raised their four children and countless others at the ball field. She founded two non-profits: Athletes 2 Champions and Beyond the Ballfield, which use the power of sports to unify and save young lives.
Cathy has seen firsthand how sports can redirect youth and ultimately change communities. In 2007, she spearheaded an effort to help a struggling community 4,000 miles away in Barrow, Alaska, by giving them the gift of an artificial turf football field to replace their gravel-covered field.
This endeavor received national media attention, with Cathy being the "Person of the Week" on both ABC and NBC networks and ESPN's Outside the Lines. Her book, "Northern Lights," details this journey of faith mixed with perseverance, and a major motion film based on this true story is in pre-production.
Her philanthropic work continued as she served as the Director of Development & Marketing for the Boys & Girls Club of Valdosta and completed a $3.8 million campaign for the construction of a new club in Brooks County, Georgia. Before her involvement with non-profit work, she thrived in the corporate sales arena and was recruited to be on the founding team of First Atlantic Bank in Jacksonville, Florida, helping raise $30 million in capital to establish three branches. Her most recent endeavor is the launch of PHILANTHROFILMS, a Georgia-based non-profit focused on bringing film production and education to the South Georgia area with the building of South Georgia Studios & Film Academy.
She continues to motivate audiences across the country as a requested inspirational speaker, spreading her message that God uses ordinary people working together to achieve the extraordinary.
Honnie Korngold
Honnie Korngold is a producer and founder of CineVantage Productions, a television and film Production Company based in Los Angeles and South Georgia. CineVantage was launched in 2009 with the television series Travel with Spirit®, which aired for 7 seasons and was viewed weekly in over 150 countries. Since that time, CineVantage has continued to specialize in film and television projects that seek to not only entertain, but also inspire.
Honnie is also the Founder and Director of the Story to Screen Conference, and Co-founder of PhilanthroFilms.
Honnie is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and Women in Film.
Sharon Respess
Sharon Respess began her career in finance with the Langdale Corporation, Valdosta, Georgia. She later became an Accounting Instructor at WIREGRASS TECHNICAL COLLEGE where she advanced to Business Department Head, Financial Aid and Veterans Department Director and Director of Accounting. As Director of Accounting for WIREGRASS TECH., she developed curriculum for their Banking and Finance Programs. Sharon has been a successful small business owner of Sew Blessed, Hahira, Georgia for over 17 years.
Janie Jones
Janie received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Valdosta State University in Theatre Arts with emphasis in Radio/TV/Film. She has 23 years in Education, having received her Teaching Certificate in Drama, K-12. Janie taught Drama, Speech, Journalism, Fine Arts, Language Arts, Grammar and History. In addition, she directed One-Act Play and Literary competition for 20 years. She has served as Program Director for ECHOES 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grant after school program in Brooks County Schools for 12 years. Currently Janie is the Fine Arts Coordinator for Brooks County schools.
In addition, Janie has served the community as Area Director of the new Brooks County Boys and Girls Club for two years. She also served on the Quitman/Brooks County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for over 30 year where served as President, receiving Chamber Director of the Year Award twice. She is a member of the Quitman Brooks County Museum and Cultural Center Board of Directors (Education Committee). She has served on the Brooks County Family Connection Board for 15 years, and was Chairman for three years. Janie is a member of Leadership Brooks Class of 1989 and facilitated and led Leadership Brooks in 2007, 2008, 2009. Janie is skilled at grant writing, having successfully received grants for 21st CCLC After School program (3-year grant cycles, four separate sub-grants—total granted: $3.1 million), competitive grants for Fine Arts through Georgia Department of Education —total granted so far: $173,000. In addition, she assisted with grant writing for Family Connection Drug-Free Communities—total granted: $250,000.
In her early career, Janie served as Valdosta Bureau Correspondent for Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and worked as News Director and Anchor at WVLD Radio and WVGA-TV in Valdosta. Janie also directed Community Follies shows for four years (large local variety show).
Stephen Johnson
Stephen Johnson has 25 years of experience in real estate development, marketing, communications, and sales. The majority of these were with Fortune 500 companies (Pulte Group; Ambling Companies,) where he served as an executive over hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions across 5 states. He has also consulted on new business development, strategic planning, marketing, and communications. Stephen has worked in the non-profit sector for over 13 years, most recently founding and managing non-profits that focus on training and developing leadership within the community. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California and a master’s from Fuller Theological Seminary.
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