it takes a village

A proud Duke graduate and accomplished entrepreneur, David is the reason Atlanta Tech Village exists. After an extraordinary bootstrapped exit at Pardot, David invested in Atlanta and the startup community by purchasing our 100,000 square foot building and creating the vision for the Village. Addicted to startups, David is CEO of Atlanta Ventures and an avid investor - having invested in over 25 startups. You also might have seen him in the news - it happens so often that ABC (Atlanta Business Chronicle) is now short for All ‘Bout Cummings.

The "other" David leads our team, setting the culture while communicating and implementing the Village's vision, mission, and strategic goals. As Co-founder and President, David has been intimately involved with the creation and growth of Atlanta Tech Village - from the closing table in December 2012 through concept, design, and construction to facilities and programming - transforming a run-down 1980s office building into Atlanta's startup hub. David's also the Founder of Clickscape|Village Realty, but his most important startups are his 3 kids who are seeing some real traction lately. Oh and chances are he's taller than you.

Aly Merritt is currently the Managing Director of Atlanta Tech Village, and formerly the Head of Community at SalesLoft, where she did everything from mopping floors to meeting investors. In past lives, she’s been Chief of Staff, customer experience, graphic design, technical support, copy editing, newspaper page layout, and product management. She has spent the last decade of her career working with the Atlanta startup community to advance both local startups and Atlanta itself on the national stage, with a special focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. She previously organized and emceed the ATL Startup Village, a monthly meetup hosted at Atlanta Tech Village to generate publicity, visibility and potential investment for startups; and is one of the founders of ATL Unlocked, an ecosystem coalition to drive connection and collaboration between startup hubs in Atlanta. She sporadically spends time writing about tech and the startup community on her blog, AlyintheATL.com, between cage matches over the “right” blue sippy cup with her toddler.

Julie is Kansan, born and raised! She grew up in a farm town where the population of cows outnumbered the population of humans, and traffic flowed through two total stoplights. While she was a small-town girl, she decided not to be a small-town woman and moved to central Florida to attend college. After some higher education, Julie pursued her career in the nonprofit world for 10 years before exploring entrepreneurship as an abstract artist and digital marketer. Currently, she is combining her heart for people, community, administration, creativity, and all around badass-ery as the Director of Community and Operations but you can still find her painting, listening to Celine Dion, and sipping a glass of Jam Jar's sweet red shiraz every now and again.

Ania grew up in Poland. As a young adult, she moved to the U.S. and earned her degrees in Political Science and in Public Administration from Georgia State University. It was at the university where she learned her first lesson on the importance of strong networks and meaningful relationships. Ania is bullish on creating access opportunities for entrepreneurs. During her career, she provided companies with research, data, and financial resources to help them find the right business opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. While at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Ania led Atlanta’s participation in Brookings Institution’s Global Cities Initiative. At Ernst & Young, she engaged fast-growth companies in the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year program. Most recently, she was Director of Operations at Outlander VC, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm.

Irina grew up in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She moved to Atlanta in 2004. Irina graduated with a major in Political Science and minor in philosophy. After graduating college, she opened a yoga studio in Alpharetta and couple of year later opened yoga & barre studio in Atlanta. She is a pro at handstands and paying attention to the details. Irina loves the beach, her cat Buddha, and The Office.

Durantae is a charismatic number jumper from Ellenwood, GA and earned a bachelor's degree in Accountancy from Georgia State University. He works in partnership with our Finance Director to help manage the books and finances for the Village and several Atlanta Venture startups. Durantae is currently working on his CPA and is a karaoke superstar. When not slinging lyrics or numbers, he can be found playing ping pong, and laughing... usually at other people's serves.

Richard Hatcher was born in Akron, Ohio, but ended up being raised in one of the greatest cities - Atlanta. LeBron James may or may not be his cousin, but lean on the latter. In his early years, he traveled a lot with his family living in multiple cities across the country cultivating the colors of his life. Richard attended a performing arts high school here in Atlanta, which started his journey as an actor. After graduation, Richard continued his training in Chicago, in which he obtained a BFA in Acting from Roosevelt University. During his tenure in Chicago, he balanced his love for the arts and his love for start-ups. Richard has a diverse background in leadership, customer success, technical support, and product management roles. Richard is a people fan with a creative edge, who is excited by the opportunity to increase community satisfaction on behalf of the village. If you don’t see him in the halls - you definitely can see him on TV networks like Apple TV, NBC, Paramount +, and many more.

Justin Vanorsby grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, where he enjoyed a life colored by family traditions and sports pursuits. He moved to Atlanta to earn a degree in Kinesiology from Morehouse College, and decided to stay upon finding that he could avoid the harsh northern winters. He was introduced to the world of coffee after becoming close friends with the baristas at a local coffee shop. He’s been hooked ever since. If he’s not behind the bar crafting the weirdest drink you’ll love, he’s probably still somewhere in the shop with headphones on. You might also be able to find him biking or rollerskating on the Beltline and he’ll probably have headphones on. You might also soon find him in front of a camera or on a stage. They probably won’t let him bring his headphones there though. Once you do find him, you should ask him to create a drink or a playlist for you.

A daughter of immigrants, Nisha started her life in Denver, Colorado. She inherited the “Midwestern charm” after a few years in Michigan, then lived in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles before finding home in Atlanta in 2015. Nisha studied social work and political science, but in March of 2020, she made the – some would say outrageous – decision to switch from the nonprofit world into the events industry (and hasn’t looked back since). Guided by the philosophy of Priya Parker, Nisha’s passion is to foster creative, intentional and inclusive gatherings. Most recently, Nisha worked on the events team at Atlanta Business Chronicle and continues to work as a Wedding Coordinator in her spare time. She’s a lover of curating the perfect playlist, she’s never met a dog she doesn’t like, and is always on the hunt for her next thrifted clothing, furniture, or decor purchase.

Brandon was born on Warner Robbins Air Force Base, but moved to California when he was 3 months old. Brandon's time is California played a huge part in shaping his personality and interests. He grew up playing soccer, baseball, basketball and tennis before settling down with his first true love of Motocross. As a teenager, he travelled the country racing dirt bikes and representing American Honda. Brandon may love Falcons Football more than anyone else you meet. He loves to travel, eat tacos, be outdoors and occasionally socialize with new people when he pokes his head out of introvert shell. Good music and hilarious standup comedy are the way to Brandon's heart. He is also the Founder of iAccess Life, a mobile app that would allow people with disabilities to rate and review the accessibility of venues such as restaurants, lounges, clubs, and bars.

Latesha was the first-born American out of her 5 siblings from Jamaica and is the true definition of a Florida Girl (Southwest Florida to be exact). A Jane of many trades, Latesha has a unique background within many fields. She has experience in Restaurant & Hospitality, Social Work & Case Management, and she’s even a Lifeguard (just to name a FEW). Latesha moved to Atlanta in 2020 to expand on her passion for music-entertainment. She’s a brand ambassador for Suntian Naziyon and owns the website Ladymprez.com (Lady Mprez is also her stage name) which is a website that encompasses Suntian culture, but also features some of the hottest underground & independent music artists internationally. Even though she’s currently a Security Officer, she also works behind the scenes doing music promotions and management. Basically, she gets to enjoy concerts, create music projects, and attend events as part of her lifestyle. When she’s not working (which seems like a rarity), Latesha enjoys traveling and is a big foodie.

Raised in Tampa, Manu first came to Atlanta to study Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. After being introduced to Engage VC, he realized that the quickly flourishing Atlanta tech ecosystem was the place to be. After interning with Engage for three semesters while completing his degree, he took the opportunity to intern with Atlanta Tech Village for the summer of 2023. He plans to return to GT in the fall to complete his master’s in mechanical engineering. Manu has big dreams of opening a Makerspace and is interested in learning about all the startups at Atlanta Tech Village. He is always open to learning a new skill and loves to connect with people with similar goals. When he is not at work, you can find him rage-queuing on Valorant, hurting himself at the gym, or complaining about his miniature Schnauzer’s bad breath.