Kara Lively

Biography: Kara Keene Lively brings more than 20 years of economic development and marketing experience to Atlanta BeltLine Inc. (ABI) as their Director of Economic Development. She executes economic development initiatives to empower the more than 6,000 existing BeltLine businesses and markets the corridor as a premier business destination. Prior to ABI, she served at the Decide DeKalb Development Authority and the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID), home to the Atlanta Braves mixed-use stadium project The Battery. She is on the Board of Managers for the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Pittsburgh Yards development site in historic southwest Atlanta. She is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta’s LEAD program as well as the Urban Land Institute’s Center for Leadership and the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute. She was named a Power 30 Under 30 for the City of Atlanta and was a 40 Under 40 nominee for the University of Georgia’s Alumni Association. Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia and a Master of Public Policy from Georgia State University.