By David Jernigan, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta
Many companies have tried, but few have truly uncovered Chick-fil-A’s secret sauce that blends personable and professional to deliver delectable customer service that is consistent at scale. And if for-profits haven’t perfected it, how then can nonprofits leverage the success of Chick-fil-A and replicate its model of excellence? That is the question we hope to answer with The Tassopoulos Centers for Innovation & Excellence launching this spring at Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta (BGCMA).
You might recognize the namesake: beloved Chick-fil-A President & COO Tim Tassopoulos, who recently retired after a 46-year tenure that spanned from humble beginnings as a 17-year-old hourly employee at the North DeKalb Mall site in 1977 to becoming only the fourth president in the company’s history in 2016. Given the indelible mark Tim has left on Chick-fil-A, the company naturally wanted to find a way to honor his decades of service upon his retirement in December 2023. It was truly my pleasure to be in the room (or actually more like the arena) for Tim’s retirement party when he heard the surprise announcement of Chick-fil-A’s $1 million investment in BGCMA to support the launch of a new initiative that will bear his family’s name. And while I might be a bit biased, I can’t think of a more appropriate way to celebrate Tim upon his retirement than to do so with a generous gift that will ultimately impact thousands of kids and teens across Metro Atlanta.
An engaged civic leader, Tim has generously given of his time and resources to many causes in our community, including nearly a decade of service with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. A dedicated member of the organization’s Board of Trustees, Tim somehow found the time to serve as chairman from 2020 to 2022. I joined BGCMA in 2020 towards the start of his time as trustee chairman, and it has been a…
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