Authentically leading the way.
Our leadership works directly with our clients to ignite meaningful connections.
SHIRLEY FRANKLIN
Shirley Franklin serves as the President of Clarke Franklin Associates, a management consulting firm. Since 2011 Shirley has served on the board of directors of Mueller Water Products and previously on the board of directors of Delta Air Lines. In addition, she serves as Chair of the board of directors of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and is a board member of the Paul Volcker Alliance, both non-profit organizations dedicated to public service missions.
Shirley also serves on the boards of a number of other non-profit organizations including the CDC Foundation and the CF Foundation, a family foundation based in Atlanta; the Atlanta Regional Commission on Homelessness; the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools; and Purpose Built Schools Atlanta. From 2002 to 2010, Shirley served as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Howard University and a Master’s degree in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
LORI GEARY
Emmy Award Winning Political Reporter, Lori Geary, is a Partner with Lexicon Strategies and President of Lori Geary Media, a NWBE™ certified firm. She has spent decades in the media industry covering local, state and national campaigns along with state government. Lori joined the reporting team of WSB-TV in 1997 while anchoring at CNN Headline News. She stays active in the broadcasting world as the Host of WAGA’s “The Georgia Gang” and a panelist for Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “Political Rewind.”
Her expertise is now in media training, media strategy, corporate communications, marketing and branding, government affairs, crisis communications and video storytelling. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp appointed Lori as Co-Executive Director of the Statewide Marketing Campaign for the 2020 Census.
THARON JOHNSON
A nationally recognized political strategist, Tharon has advised elected officials at the highest levels of government. Most recently he served as a senior advisor to the Biden-Harris campaign in the battleground state of Georgia. He has served at senior levels of federal, state, and local campaigns, including for President Barack Obama, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Congressman John Lewis, Congressman John Barrow and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.
Politics Magazine named Tharon one of the “Top 10 Democrats in Georgia” and he has received “40 Under 40” awards from Georgia Trend Magazine and Atlanta Business Chronicle. Named by James Magazine as one of the “Top 25 Most influential Georgians,” Tharon was the youngest and first African American to receive the “Campaign Manager of the Year” distinction from the American Association of Political Consultants.
BRIAN TOLLESON
Still Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Lexicon Strategies, and previously CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, founder of renowned advertainment studio BARK BARK, and former Marketing and Creative executive at Viacom, Brian has spent his career working at the intersection of human rights, media and social justice while managing billions in partnership marketing initiatives, multi-platform branding and content strategy for distributors like Sony, NBC Universal, and Google, as well as marketers such as P&G, Unilever, Clorox, Citigroup, Target, Microsoft, Starbucks, Mercedes Benz, Chevron and General Motors.
Brian has been nominated for an Emmy and a Grammy and was named to Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2018 Power 100 annual special report featuring Atlanta’s 100 most influential people.