ACG Atlanta: Access to Lending

Andrew J. Young has earned worldwide recognition as a pioneer in and champion of civil and human rights. Ambassador Young’s lifelong dedication to service is illustrated by his extensive leadership experience of over sixty-five years, serving as a member of Congress, African American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mayor of Atlanta, and ordained minister, among other positions.  

During the 1960s, Young was a key strategist and negotiator during civil rights campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Appointed as an Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977, Young negotiated an end to white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe and brought President Carter's emphasis on human rights to international diplomacy efforts. As two-term Mayor of Atlanta, Young brought in over 1,100 businesses, over 70 billion in foreign direct investments and generated over a million jobs. 

Ambassador Young has received honorary degrees from more than 100 universities and colleges in the U.S. and abroad and has received various awards, including an Emmy Lifetime Achievement award in 2011 and the Dan Sweat Award in 2017.  His portrait also became part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. 

Ambassador Young also serves on a number of boards, including, but not limited to, the Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, Morehouse College, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State and Americas Mart. In 2003, he and his wife Carolyn McClain Young founded the Andrew J. Young Foundation to support and promote education, health, leadership and human rights in the U.S., Africa, and the Caribbean.  Young currently serves as the Chairman of the Andrew J. Young Foundation. 

In 2012, Young retired from GoodWorks International, LLC, after well over a decade of facilitating sustainable economic development in the business sectors of the Caribbean and Africa. Young was born in 1932 in New Orleans, and he currently lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn McClain. He is also a father of three daughters and one son, a grandfather of nine and a great grandfather of one. 

Anthony (Tony) Hilliard is a Private Bank Market Executive for Bank of America.

He leads a Georgia based team of banking professionals that provides comprehensive investment and wealth management solutions to ultra-high net worth clients.  Based in Atlanta, he and his team are responsible for delivering the full capabilities of the bank to current and prospective clients, helping individuals and families meet their financial goals.

Mr. Hilliard joined the bank in 2011 where he served as a market executive within Global Commercial Banking from 2016 until joining Private Bank in 2023. He was previously, market manager and senior client manager, also within Global Commercial Banking. Prior to Bank of America, he spent 12 years at CoBank and SunTrust Bank, in client management, underwriting and risk. He also spent 3 years in the United States Navy in both active duty and reserve roles.

Mr. Hilliard is a member of the executive committee for the Piedmont Park Conservancy where he chairs the Treasury/Finance committee. He spent 5 years on the board of the Georgia Chamber, serving as the chair of the operations committee for a 3-year term.  

Hilliard holds a Masters in Business Administration degree from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, and he graduated from Florida State University where he majored in finance.

Jennifer Pasley serves as the Project Director for the Georgia Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center operated by Georgia Tech.  Funded by the U. S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency, the Center is part of a national network helping Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) scale their businesses domestically and internationally.  Her success in sourcing capital, securing grants, and identifying strategic opportunities for clients helps attribute the Georgia MBDA Business Center as being consistently recognized as one of the top MBDA centers in the country.

Jennifer holds a B.A. from Drury University. She also holds training certificates in Economic Development from the Georgia Economic Developers Association and the University of Oklahoma.  

In her spare time, Jennifer serves as the Vice President, Economic Development, for the Greater South Fulton Chamber of Commerce and volunteer for the National Black Golf Hall of Fame.

Prior to co-founding o15, Kenneth Saffold was a Managing Director and a member of BlackRock's Global Credit Platform where he was responsible for originating and executing private credit investment opportunities across the United States out of the groups $30 billion in AUM. Kenneth also served as an Investment Committee Member for the BlackRock Impact Opportunities Fund, a $1 billion multi-private asset class fund focused on making investments in underserved ethnic group businesses and communities. He was also on the Senior Leadership Team of the BlackRock Atlanta Office. 
Prior to BlackRock, Kenneth held roles with GE Capital and Goldman Sachs. Kenneth received his MBA from The Wharton School and his BA from Morehouse College.