Saturday, March 21, 2026
You're invited to our Be the Inspiration Gala
Join us for an inspiring and exciting evening with all proceeds supporting year-round leadership development and career exploration programs for over 2,500 high school students across the state, while also providing $11,000 in scholarships to 21 students recognized with the Georgia Youth Leadership Award
Saturday, March 21, 2026 6:00pm at Savanna Hall at Zoo Atlanta
Event Leadership
Co-Chairs & 21CL Board of Directors
Quiana Pinckney, Comcast
Greg Clay, City of Atlanta, Mayor’s Office (21CL Alumnus)
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BE INSPIRED
View the recap video of our 2025 gala and hear from our student winners and coaches and how they’re inspired to lead. Last year’s event raised over $250,000 ensuring that all of our year-round youth leadership development programs come at little to no cost to every student.Â
Thank You to our 2026 Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Entertainment Sponsors
Friends of 21CL Sponsors
Ashley Lee
Wellstar Health System
You Inspiring Students + Students Inspiring You
There is no age requirement for leadership, which is exactly why we take the time to honor our students demonstrating leadership today. What makes our Be the Inspiration Gala so special is that we select 21 of our students, who have been inspired through our program, to be recognized with the Georgia Youth Leadership Awards (GYLA). All nominations are reviewed each year by our GYLA Selection Committee, comprised of recognized business and community leaders.
Once selected, the student awardees are paired with a Coach, a business professional, to mentor them through the award season where they will help present their award and their monetary scholarship at the Be the Inspiration Gala.
Meet the 2026 Awardees
- Eunchan Choo, Columbus High School, from Muscogee County
- Reese Davis, Pickens High School, from Pickens County
- Blake Davis, The Galloway School, from Fulton County
- Utshaho Gupta, Atlanta International School, from Fulton County
- Taylor Harper, Charles R. Drew Charter School, from DeKalb County
- Kareem Hassan, Lakeside High School, from Columbia County
- Josie Herren, Berrien High School, from Berrien County
- Keauna Holloway, Kendrick High School, from Muscogee County
- Kezia Kotey, DeKalb Early College Academy, from DeKalb County
- Mami Masoka, Howard High School, from Bibb County
- Levi McCoy, Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, from Richmond County
- Dominic Mimbang, Coffee High School, from Coffee County
- Justan Mosley, Allatoona High School, from Cobb County
- Marleigh Robinson, Westlake High School, from Fulton County
- Samadhi Salgado, Emanuel County Institute, from Emanuel County
- Aadi Shah, Innovation Academy, from Fulton County
- Omer Shoaib, Brookwood High School, from Gwinnett County
- Leilanie Singleton, Woodville Thompkins High School, from Chatham County
- MyKel Smith, B.E.S.T. Academy, from Fulton County
- Brooke Smith, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate High School, from Fulton County
- Kunyuan Zou, Lambert High School, from Forsyth County
View the winner announcement press release.
Meet the Coaches & Selection Committee
Thank you to our 23-member Selection Committee and 21 volunteer coaches for supporting the 2025 student awardees with recognition and guidance.
2026 GYLA Coaches
Maranie Brown, BlackRock, 21CL Board of Directors*
Whitney Deal Marshall, Whitney Marshall Coaching*
Pranav Dhingra, Equifax, 21CL Board of Directors*
Hassim Diallo, JP Morgan*
Chandra Farley, City of Atlanta, Mayor’s Office of Sustainability & Resilience*
Marty Fleischmann, The Masters Team*
Ashley Lee, The Coca-Cola Company, 21CL Board of Directors*
Paula Lett, Wellstar*
Mallom Liggon, Warner Bros. Discovery, 21CL Board of Directors
Lanita Lucas, Aflac*
Juan Mejia, JCM Ventures*
Dr. Brandon Morgan, Iconic Orthodontics, 21CL Alumnus*
Jon Neff, SKL’D, 21CL Board of Directors*
Johnny Nguyen, Atlanta Police Department*
Bre Pittman, Sage*
Dr. Adriane Randolph, Kennesaw State University*
Tiffany Reed, Purpose Possible*
Martha Revelo, DeKalb County Government*
Assi van Bastelaar, Atlassian*
Mary Walker, Invesco*
Matt Westmoreland, Atlanta City Council*
*Coaches who also served on the Selection Committee
Georgia Youth Leadership Awards Selection Committee
All nominations were reviewed by our 23-member GYLA Selection Committee, comprised of 21CL corporate volunteers, 21CL Board of Directors, and 21CL alumni and student peers. Committee members included the coaches indicated above, along with David Felfoldi, SHERPA Global; Shannon Wiggins, City of Chamblee, 21CL Alumni Board; and Hadil Adam, 2025 GYLA Student Recipient.