Large Corporate Finalists

Elaine Armstrong is Vice President of Marketing at Goodwill of North Georgia, leading brand, advertising, and communications across 45 counties, 71 stores, 45 ADCs, and 14 career centers. Over two decades, she grew a one-person function into an eight-person department with a $4.6 million budget, launched the agency’s first loyalty program, and built an earned media strategy generating $30 million in media impact value. She serves on four Atlanta nonprofit boards.

In June 2025, during our 100th anniversary, my team launched the Savvy Shoppers Club, the first guest loyalty program in Goodwill of North Georgia’s history. It has grown to more than 565,000 members. Savvy members spend more per transaction than non-members and return more often, driving revenue across all 71 stores. That matters because our stores fund our mission. Every larger basket funds free career training and job placement that connect North Georgians to work. For us, loyalty is not a marketing metric. It is mission funding: $122.3 million in member sales and $19.9 million in lift.

Amanda Darley is Vice President of Marketing at Construction Resources, where she leads brand, digital, content, communications, merchandising, social, and experiential marketing through a period of rapid growth — five-plus acquisitions and new markets including Charleston, Tampa, Dallas, and Nashville. She previously led marketing at Mannington Mills and digital marketing at Mohawk Industries. Amanda leads with the belief that clarity is kindness, and measures success by the leaders she builds, not just the results delivered.

Since joining Construction Resources, I’ve led our transformation from an Atlanta-based regional company into a recognized brand expanding across the Southeast. We built a scalable brand identity, elevating our design aesthetic so everything in marketing reflects the same care and craft we bring to our customers’ projects. A full digital and content transformation grew active users by 67%, new users by 68%, and social engagement by over 100%. We also introduced high-touch events for top builders and designers, alongside a consistent visual brand identity across our design centers — building a recognizable brand and scalable marketing engine.

Allison Johnson Fouché is an award-winning communications executive with more than 25 years of experience shaping public-sector messaging. She oversees media relations, executive communications, and social media for the City of Atlanta. Her work has earned wide recognition, including Communicator of the Year by the National Association of Government Communicators, multiple Telly Awards, an AIVA Communicator Award, and a regional Emmy Award for excellence in public-sector storytelling.

A hallmark achievement has been the creation of ATL Direct, the City of Atlanta’s official digital news platform. Designed to communicate directly with residents without relying solely on traditional media, ATL Direct delivers timely updates, feature stories, videos, public service announcements, and behind-the-scenes content that highlights City initiatives and services. The platform has strengthened transparency, expanded the City’s digital reach, increased public engagement, and provided residents with a trusted source for accurate information. ATL Direct has become an essential communications tool that allows the City to tell its own story while improving access to government information

Jennifer Johnson is Chief Product Officer at ConstructConnect, where she has spent nearly two decades driving the company’s evolution into a leader in construction technology. Pairing a Computer Science foundation and Georgia Tech MBA with a data-driven approach, Jen has made her team AI-first, embedding AI into every stage of the work to move faster from idea to impact. She leads by example, developing talent and turning strategy into measurable market share and revenue growth.

Under my leadership, Marketing transformed how ConstructConnect goes to market. We built a self-serve, touchless sales channel from scratch, now 20% of new logo sales, at 40% lower customer acquisition cost, with bookings up 89% this year and a new product line launched last month. We went AI-first across the team, using Claude for full ideation through decision, cutting weeks-long cycles to hours. The result: New Bookings are up 7.4% YoY, despite 5% fewer inbound leads, proof that better leads and smarter execution beat volume. This is a fundamentally new, more efficient way ConstructConnect builds brand and wins customers.

Laura Sterling is a strategic marketing executive with expertise in brand transformation, integrated campaigns, B2B marketing, CRM governance, and multi-channel budget optimization. As VP Marketing, she led growth strategies that helped scale assets from $1.3B to $4.3B while overseeing enterprise communications, sponsorships, public relations, and M&A messaging. She is known for aligning teams, strengthening market presence, and translating strategy into measurable business impact.

Under my leadership, our team repositioned Georgia’s Own’s digital sign atop 100 Peachtree from a controversial replacement into a civic landmark generating 640,000 weekly impressions. We launched with a “Welcome to Atlanta” message from then-Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms during Super Bowl LIII, then partnered with WonderRoot and the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee to amplify civil rights murals and community moments. Bringing creative production in-house saves $400,000 annually, while the campaign has generated more than $2.4 million in earned revenue and consistent Atlanta media coverage.