Dave Deiters, Chair
Dave Deiters and his wife Susie have lived in Avondale Estates for nearly three decades where they raised their two children Maggy and David.
Dave was a management and business strategy consultant for 35 years. He retired from global consultancy North Highland as president in 2015 and is now the Executive Director of the Jones MBA Career Center at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. Dave has his dream job helping Georgia Tech’s MBA graduates find THEIR dream jobs. Dave graduated from Georgia Tech where he played on the golf team and met his bride-to-be Susie, an Agnes Scott College alumna.
Dave and Susie are longtime members of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Decatur where Dave served on its Parish Council, Finance Committee, STM School PTO President and co-chaired several capital campaigns. Dave and Susie are members of the Avondale Community Club and the Swim & Tennis Club and feel grateful to live in such a wonderful city of neighbors.
Contact Dave at [email protected]
Leigh Lynch, Vice Chair
Leigh Lynch is owner of Origins Homegrown Team Real Estate located in downtown Avondale Estates. “I love being able to work out of an office in the town I live.” She has enjoyed success at Origins Real Estate achieving the pinnacle award for sales volume five years in a row.
Leigh has been a part of the Avondale community for more than 14 years. She has enjoyed coaching basketball at The Museum School and wouldn’t miss participating in the annual Fourth of July parade.
Contact Leigh at [email protected]
Jennifer Joyner
Jennifer Joyner started five & two company in 2010 after searching for a perfect work/life balance. After a 12 year career in retail account management, she tapped into the social media communication craze and began working with local businesses looking to grow their online presence. Through word of mouth, Jennifer expanded her business and now keeps busy promoting local and national brands.
Born and raised in New York, Jennifer has made Atlanta her home since 1993. Her husband Mark is the principal at Druid Hills High School and her daughters Natalie and Kate are students at The Museum School where she is an active volunteer.
Contact Jennifer at [email protected]
Lisa Shortell
Lisa is a native Oregonian who made her way to the east coast via college (Swarthmore) and graduate school (Emory). She taught at the Paideia School and Arbor Montessori School and, more recently, tutored children in various subjects and test prep.
Lisa and her husband Greg have been active and involved members of the community for nearly 30 years. Their two children Paul and Molly were born and raised in Avondale. You may see Lisa walking, running or biking through the neighborhood or working in the garden of their home.
Over the years, Lisa became interested in city government and development. She participated in several city planning workshops and processes. In addition, she and several other residents founded the citizen advocacy group Second Century Avondale promoting a bike and pedestrian friendly downtown that reflects Avondale’s character and identity. Lisa was elected to the Board of Mayor and Commissioners in 2018 and serves as the BOMC liaison on the DDA.
Contact Lisa at [email protected]
Stacia Familo-Hopek
Stacia Familo-Hopek, The Lost Druid’s CEO and owner, earned a doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida in 1999. She started her career providing human resources consulting to Fortune 100 and 500 organizations before moving into progressively more senior Organizational Development and Talent Management roles with UPS, NCR and First Data in Atlanta.
Stacia has more than 20 years internal and external consulting experience and 15+ years management experience. She has expertise in hiring practices (e.g., identification of skills required for roles and assessment of skills to determine level of competence/job fit), development strategies (e.g., development and facilitation of training, succession planning, leadership skills development, etc.) and project management/execution.
After working within large corporations for more than two decades, Stacia is now focused on building her own business in the Rail Arts District in Avondale Estates. Stacia has worked with city and county government offices, general contractors, architects and engineers to build The Lost Druid from the ground-up. Using what she’s learned about human resources practices, people management and operations, she continues to grow The Lost Druid into a successful neighborhood craft microbrewery and tap room.
She is excited and proud to be a part of Avondale Estates’ Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to help execute the DDA’s mission and grow a vibrant downtown area for the city.
Contact Stacia at [email protected]
Tom Trocheck
Tom Trocheck and his wife Kathy moved to their first home on Kensington Road in Avondale Estates in 1983, and after a brief hiatus in Raleigh, moved back to Avondale Estates. The Trochecks raised their children Katie and Andy in Avondale and now Katie and her husband Mark Abel are raising Molly and Griffin, a third generation of Avondale kids.
After receiving a B.A. in Government from Florida State University, Tom received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech and is a Registered Professional Engineer (inactive).
Tom has over four decades of experience in design, construction, development and acquisitions of real estate projects. This includes single and multi-family residential, retail, office, mixed use, commercial and industrial projects. He currently maintains, on a part time basis, a real estate consulting practice Berkeley Real Estate Advisors.
The Trochecks are members of the Avondale Swim and Tennis Club where Tom is a fixture on the tennis courts and the Avondale Community Club where Tom is a past president of the board of directors. He is a past chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission. In addition to tennis, he is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fly fishing and quail hunting. If he’s not on the tennis courts or fishing, you can find him gardening or tackling his never-ending list of home improvement projects in Avondale and Tybee Island.
Contact Tom at [email protected]
Walter Barineau
Walter and his wife Karen have lived in the Avondale Estates area for 15+ years. Walter is a licensed Real Estate agent and a Real Estate Director for Waffle House, Inc. and has worked in the Real Estate industry for over 23 years. Some of his achievements include developing the first LEED Certified Best Buy in the United States, developing over 100 Waffle House Restaurants in 14 states and consistently meeting or exceeding production goals. He brings a mix of financial analysis, development strategy and general real estate and construction knowledge to the Avondale Estates Downtown Development Authority. Walter understands the many attributes that Avondale Estates has to offer and will work hard to see that those attributes are maximized to the benefit of the surrounding community.
Karen and Walter enjoy traveling and listening to live music. Walter also enjoys golf, exercising, hiking and visiting the many restaurants and breweries in the Avondale Estates area.
Contact Walter at [email protected]