Board of Directors
Malisa Anderson-Strait
Malisa is a Business and Career Librarian at the Goizueta Business Library of Emory University. Prior to moving to Tucker in 2005, she spent five years as Corporate Librarian for State Farm Insurance, managing their corporate library in Bloomington, IL. A Kansas City native, she received her undergraduate degree from Baker University in Baldwin City, KS, and her master’s from the University of Illinois in Library and Information Science. Malisa has also completed the Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant designations and is a past Chair of the Special Libraries Association’s Insurance and Employee Benefits Division. She served on the Tucker 2015 Volunteer Council that led to the creation of the City of Tucker and also served on the Steering Committee for the Tucker PATH Trail Master Plan. Malisa currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Tucker Civic Association, and is a member of the Tucker Running Club. She’s completed over 80 marathons in 30 states, and has run many of the streets, parks and paths of Tucker. She and her husband live off Brockett Road.
Kurt Heiss
Kurt is a Pediatric Surgeon with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). He was chief of surgery at CHOA at Egleston from 1997-2000, and president of the hospital’s medical staff from 2003-2004. He served as vice chair of education of the Department of Surgery of the Emory School of Medicine from 2006-2009. He is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Surgical Section.
Kurt received his MD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; completed his General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care Residencies at the University of Michigan; and a Fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He and his wife Karen moved to Smoke Rise in 1991 and all four of their children graduated from Tucker High School.
Gloria Johnson
Gloria is a Health Service Administrator and registered nurse with Kaiser Permanente at the Crescent Centre Pkwy location in Tucker. Gloria served on the Steering Committee for the Tucker PATH Trail Master Plan and Implementation Strategy representing both Kaiser and as a CID Stakeholder. As an organization, Kaiser is committed to supporting trails and the current plan brings the Tucker PATH next to the Kaiser location. A native of Buffalo New York, she and her husband Charles live in Lithonia.
Matthew Lee
Matthew is the Executive Director of the Tucker-Northlake Community Improvement District (CID). Prior to his work leading the CID he spent his career in the healthcare technology industry including working for Agilent Technologies, Kodak, Carestream Dental, and the American Cancer Society. He was part of the Tucker 2015 Volunteer Council that led to the incorporation of the City of Tucker in 2016, is the current president of the Tucker Historical Society, serves on the Board of Directors for the Friends of Johns Homestead Park, and a graduate of Leadership Dekalb, Class of 2020. The father of two boys he and his wife Malissa and their family live in unincorporated Tucker.
Dante McDowell
Dante is a financial consultant with Capital Investment Companies focused on financial planning for families, small business, estate planning, retirement planning, insurance and investments. A former Associate Producer for CNN Sports Illustrated, Dante received a BA in Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a graduate of Leadership Dekalb, Class of 2020, a volunteer coach with Rehoboth Youth Basketball League, and is in his eighth year of service on the Board of Directors for Boys & Girls Clubs of DeKalb County. He and his wife Priscilla and their two sons live in Smoke Rise.
Steven Robinson
Steven is currently a quality manager for J.M. Wilkerson Construction. His recent background includes a minority ownership stake in the 675 N. Highland mixed use project in Poncey Highland neighborhood where he assisted in rezoning, due diligence, and the assemblage of six adjoining parcels. After the sale of that project, Steven worked as the Owner’s Representative for Origin Investments during ground up construction of a mixed use building in Atlanta and managed three value-add construction projects on their behalf. Steven has now been at J.M. Wilkerson Construction for six months in the Quality Manager role.
His volunteer experience includes serving on the construction committee for Dekalb County Habitat for Humanity and serving on a international Habitat trip to Trindad & Tobago. Steven grew up in Tucker and graduated from Tucker High School. He and his wife Sharon and their three children live in the Henderson Hills area in unincorporated DeKalb. Every summer they travel to Utah to unplug at their off-grid cabin near Zion National Park.
Dave Sanders
Dave is the lead real estate agent for Tucker with J. Rich Atlanta, operating out of the Keller Knapp office on Main Street. After several successful years living and selling property in Decatur and East Atlanta, he followed the intown trend of moving to Tucker. For Dave it was a move home. He is a strong believer in the strength of Tucker as a community. Dave attended Tucker High School. He was born and raised in a home his Grandfather built and now lives with his wife and two kids just a mile from where he grew up.
Mark Slawson
Mark is a retired insurance and investments professional, trail advocate, and served on the Steering Committee for the Tucker PATH Trail Master Plan and Implementation Strategy. Mark regularly attends City Council meetings and stays connected to PATH and Trail groups regionally. A native of Virginia and a Navy veteran (Lieutenant), he and his wife Kathy live in Winding Woods. They have three children and five grandchildren in Virginia Beach and Colorado Springs.
Jonathan Vaughters
Jonathan is currently a Principal Partner Account Manager for Citrix, Inc. He has a diverse 35+ year business career as an executive in Technology, Consulting, Sales Leadership & Business Development, Brand Management, Product Management, and Consulting with companies like SAP, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Cox Enterprises, Wipro, Eastman Kodak, NEC, and Equifax among a few others.
Jonathan is a board member of the Tucker High School Foundation and was a member of the Tucker Community Council. Jonathan has been active with youth in his community as a football coach in the Tucker Football League at Fitzgerald Field. He holds a BA in Business Economics from the College of Wooster, OH, and a MBA in Marketing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He belongs to several organizations including the NBMBAA, the Kettering Executive Network, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Jonathan and his wife Vanessa have lived in Smoke Rise for over 20 years, and three of their four children graduated from Tucker High School.