By Maria Saporta
Without question, the most influential board in Atlanta is the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the largest philanthropy in the Southeast.
Now, for the first time in its 86-year history, it no longer has an all-white male board of trustees.
At its last board meeting on April 4, the Woodruff trustees voted in Joseph A. Arnold, who spent 40 years with Trust Company Bank/SunTrust/Truist before retiring in September 2021. For the last 20 years at the bank, Arnold ran the Not-for-Profit and Government Banking Division in Georgia. He also has been deeply engaged with numerous nonprofit boards in metro Atlanta.
Arnold, a “Grady baby,” grew up in Vine City where he lived until he was 14. Although a modest community, Arnold fondly recalled the thriving historic African American community where he could walk to school and neighborhood stores.
“It was an easy, unanimous decision,” Woodruff. Foundation Chair Jenner Wood said in a telephone interview. “This was just about who was the right person. And the right person in the mind of all of us was Joe, not whether he was Black or White.”
Jenner Wood, Jimmy Williams and Russ Hardin in 2018 upon Wood becoming chair of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. (Photo by Maria Saporta.)
Russ Hardin, president of the Woodruff Foundation, was equally enthusiastic.
“We have known and worked with Joe for years,” Hardin said. “He has been a leader and a tremendously positive influence in our community – particularly in the nonprofit sector. He is passionate about Atlanta and will contribute much to our foundation. He is also a really nice guy. The staff and trustees of the Woodruff Foundation are thrilled he has joined our board.”
Arnold understood the significance of being asked to join the Woodruff Foundation board.
“Atlanta wouldn’t be what it is today if it weren’t for the Woodruff Foundation,” Arnold said during an interview April 30 at Alon’s in Buckhead. “Everybody who is looking for a grant appreciates the fact the Woodruff family of foundations can make or break their ability to accomplish what they are trying to do for the community.”
As a volunteer leader in a host of Atlanta nonprofits – the YMCA of Metro Atlanta, Kipp Metro Atlanta Schools, Achieve Atlanta, the Atlanta Mission, Greater Atlanta Christian Schools, Westside Future Fund’s real estate committee, the Atlanta Area Council of Boy Scouts of American among others – Arnold has been across the table asking the Woodruff Foundation for grants.
“Joe has great respect for the Woodruff Foundation. He has worked with nonprofits. Now he gets to be on the other side,” Wood said. “Joe is a perfect community leader. He fits really well in the board room at the Woodruff Foundation.”
Joe Arnold with now retired SunTrust CEO Jim Wells in 2010. (Special.)
The Woodruff Foundation now has assets of about $4 billion. The three other related foundations – Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation – have assets of about $3 billion, giving the Woodruff family of foundations a total of about $7 billion.
“The vast majority of those grants are focused on Atlanta,” Arnold said. As an African American, Arnold said he can offer perspectives on equity and inclusivity. Almost all the nonprofits where he has volunteered have centered on faith or education in low-income communities and on people who are at the lowest points in their lives.
“Given my experience and the organizations I’ve been involved with, I have insights and perspectives that most of the board members may not have,” said Arnold, who also served as a trustee of the SunTrust Foundation in addition to running the nonprofit lending division. “When I started at Trust Company, it was a $3 billion asset bank. When I retired, my group had assets of $4 billion.”
Arnold joined the bank in 1981 after graduating from the University of Virginia. He actually met Bill Rogers, now CEO of Truist Bank, during a training program while he was still a student.
“Coming out of college, I had eight offers. My lowest offer was Trust Company,” Arnold said. “But it was the Trust Company people with whom I felt most comfortable.”
The feeling was mutual.
KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools honored Joe Arnold with a collage of photos for his board service (Special.)
“Joe is the consummate purposeful leader,” Rogers said while visiting Atlanta on April 27. “He has a deep understanding of the community and can share a great perspective with the Woodruff Foundation team.”
Wood, who retired from SunTrust in 2017, worked closely with Arnold for decades.
“We take board succession at the Woodruff Foundation very seriously,” Wood said. “As we looked at candidates, it was really important to have someone who understood what the Woodruff Foundation was and is, and someone who is deeply involved in the community. Joe was our number one candidate to join the board.”
The Woodruff Foundation now has a mandatory retirement age of 75. A spot opened up on the five-person bard when Thomas J. Lawley reached that age. Chairman emeritus Jimmy Williams, who predated the retirement age restriction, is the only Woodruff trustee over 75 – a big change from a decade ago when several trustees were well into their 80s and 90s.
Joe Arnold with his wife Renee. (Special.)
Williams has been on the Woodruff board since 1985 when the foundation was renamed in honor of its founder Robert W. Woodruff, the legendary Coca-Cola executive who died that year. Before that, it was known as the Trebor Foundation, founded in 1937, so Woodruff could give money anonymously. Trebor is Robert spelled backward.
At 64, Arnold can anticipate being on the board for 11 years. In addition to Williams, Wood and Arnold, the other trustees are Larry Gellerstedt III (vice chair) and Dave Stockert.
Interestingly enough, Arnold’s wife – Renee – also attended the University of Virginia and then joined Trust Company/SunTrust Bank, where they got to know each other. They have three children – Joseph, 31; Brittany, 28; and Jordan, 27.
During his first Woodruff Foundation board meeting, Wood described Arnold as a kid on Christmas morning, adding: “I can’t tell you how happy I am to have a chance to work with Joe again.”
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