Pat Upshaw-MonteithChief Executive Officer, Leadership Atlanta
Since 1992, Pat Upshaw-Monteith has gone from Co-Executive Director to Executive Director and was promoted to President and CEO of Leadership Atlanta in 2005. In this capacity, she has capably steered Leadership Atlanta to the position of excellence it now enjoys. Ms. Upshaw-Monteith has actively participated in the present and future growth of Atlanta by imparting to new generations of leaders the legacy of values that have traditionally been central to Metropolitan Atlanta’s success.
Prior to heading up Leadership Atlanta, Ms. Upshaw-Monteith served as Associate General Manager of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for 13 years. In that capacity she was producer of the Orchestra’s successful “Pops” series at Chastain Park and directed the symphony’s educational programs including the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. When appointed to this position, she had the distinct honor of being one of the first African-Americans hired in management by a major symphony orchestra.
Under her appointment with the Board of Commissioners of DeKalb County, she served as a member of the MARTA board for 2 ½ years and served on the board of the DeKalb County Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS).
Ms. Upshaw-Monteith was recently appointed to the Board of the Rotary Club of Atlanta and currently serves on the boards of the International Women’s Forum (IWF), Private Bank of Buckhead and Salvation Army. In addition, she serves on the Metro Atlanta Chamber Board of Directors, the Grady Foundation Board of Visitors, the University of Georgia’s Board of Visitors and Emory University’s Center for Ethics Board.
Previous board appointments include City of Atlanta Ethics Board, Oglethorpe University, The Ron Clark Academy, American Red Cross and St. Pius X Catholic High School.
On the national level, Ms. Upshaw-Monteith served on the board for the Community Leadership Association, the umbrella organization for leadership programs around the country. She chaired this organization’s national conference, where over 800 leadership directors and volunteers attended from around the world. She also co-hosted the 2005 national conference that was held in Atlanta.
She has been widely honored for her achievements and was featured in the edition of Who’s Who in Black Atlanta, recognized as an Unsung Hero by the Coalition of 100 Black Women, and inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers in 1999.
Additionally, she received the Bronze Jubilee Award for the Arts, Women Looking Head’s “Ordinary Women with Ordinary Talents” award, and was recognized for thirteen consecutive years as one of Atlanta Business League’s 100 Most Influential Black Women in Atlanta. Ms. Upshaw-Monteith is not only a Leadership Atlanta graduate of 1984 but also a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute’s class of 1998. In 2008, Pat was a recipient of the Business to Business 2008 Woman of Excellence award.
Ms. Upshaw-Monteith earned a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University and a bachelor’s degree from Albany State University. Her love for the Arts did evolve into an acting career, as she has been seen in several national television commercials, industrial films, and the well-noted TV series, “In the Heat of the Night.”