Team

Meet the Team 

Tino J. Mantella
President

Tino Mantella joined TAG in September, 2004 as the organization's new President.

Mantella, prior to joining TAG, had amassed over 20 years of related experience leading two of the nations more prestigious volunteer-driven organizations - National Arthritis Foundation and YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

As President and CEO of two multifaceted and complex charities, he spearheaded agendas that led to the development of innovative new services, resulting in the facilitation of significant membership growth. In addition, Mantella’s track record reflects impressive results in fund raising, advocacy, and economic development. Since coming to TAG, Mantella has worked with a team of dedicated volunteers and staff to: build a prestigious board made up of 60 technology stakeholders; grow membership by more than 400%; and add a series of program and services that support TAG’s vision of educating, informing and uniting the technology community, while driving technology based economic development for Georgia.

Mantella serves on the board of Catholic Charities of Atlanta, and on the Executive Committee of Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), and is a past member of the Kellogg Board of Advisors.

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Melanie Brandt
Chief Operating Officer

Melanie Brandt serves as TAG's Chief Operating Officer.  In this role, she manages a select set of TAG's key strategic functions and provides direct and indirect leadership through and with TAG's professional staff and volunteer support.

Before joinging TAG, Brandt was part of the Gwinnett Chamber's Economic Development team, implementing the Partnership Gwinnett initiative as their Business Development Manager for Information Technology and Advanced Communication.  Prior to joining the Gwinnett Chamber, Brandt served as TAG's Director of Information and Community Resources where she lead the creation of TAG's first and second State of the Industry: Technology in Georgia reports, and assisted in the early development of the GRA/TAG Business Launch competition, now in its fifth year.  Her professional experiences includes several technology sales positions including one as Manager of New Business and Market Development for Fiberlight, an Alpharetta-based advanced communications company.  Brandt is currently on the executive advisory board for the Atlanta Technology Professionals (ATP), where she served as president in 2004 and 2005, an executive advisory board member of Digitainment Georgia, an organization striving to make Georgia the premier destination for the creation and dissemination of digital entertainment content, and a founder and board member of StartupChicks, an organization dedicated to connecting and inspiring entrepreneurial women.

Brandt has a B.A. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an MBA from The Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.

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John Hurlbut
Executive Director
Technology Association of Georgia Education Collaborative (TAG ED)

John joined the TAG Education Collaborative in September, 2008 as the organizations Director of Program Services.  During 2009, John was named the Executive Director of this non-profit arm of TAG, focusing on STEM Education for students in K-12 schools.

Hurlbut has served the Atlanta non-profit community for more than 14 years, primarily as the Chief Financial Officer for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, Inc., a position he held for 12 years.  During his time at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, the organization doubled its membership, added seven new club sites and intorduced several new programs that enhanced the club experience for its members.  In this regard, Hurlbut spearheaded several education initiatives that had a significant impact of the member's school performance.

Hurlbut has been honored with multiple awards for outstanding contributions to the community, including the 2000 Distinguished Level Award from the Professional Association of Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the 2005 Glenn Pelham Award from Emory University.

Prior to Boys & Girls Clubs, Hurlbut spent almost 20 years in finance as a Certified Financial Planner, Corporate Controller and public accountant in Atlanta and New York City.  He is a graduate of Fordham University and New York where he met his wife, Lourdes.  They have been 37 years and have two grown children, Greg and Kathy.  Prior to entering college, Hurlbut served in the United States Army, including a one year tour in Vietnam.  Hurlbut and his wife live in East Cobb and are members of Holy Family Catholic Church.

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Amanda Shook
Director of Professional Development

Amanda Shook was named to Director of Professional Development for the Technology Association of Georgia in the fall of 2007. In this role, Amanda is responsible for TAG's educational programming initiatives as well as the planning and execution of the annual TAGit Golf Tournament. She also works as support on several other large events and is the staff liaison for TAG Marketing, TAG Consulting, TAG Healthcare and TAG Diversity.

Amanda joined TAG as a marketing intern in 2005 while she was a student at Georgia Institute of Technology. As an intern, she assisted the Membership Director and President in membership growth efforts and planning. Amanda graduated in May 2007 with a Bachelor's Degree in Management and certificates for her work in Accounting and Marketing.

 

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Barbara Martin
Director of Member Services

 

Barbara Martin joined the TAG Team in Fall 2007. Her primary focus is on the needs of our Individual and Corporate Level 1 and 2 association members. Barbara also coordinates the Excalibur Awards and the Georgia Technology Summit.

Prior to joining TAG, Barbara developed association management experience as an Account Executive with The Association Group, Inc. In this role, she coordinated membership recruitment campaigns, board leadership meetings, association luncheons and special events for the Georgia Occupational Therapy Association, Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta, The Greater Atlanta Chapter of ASTD , Atlanta Southeastern Chapter of IAEE and the Atlanta Human Resources Leadership Forum.

Barbara earned her B.B.A. with a concentration in Hospitality from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business - Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality at Georgia State University in 2004.

She is a proud member of Georgia Society of Association Executives (GSAE) and ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership. Along with serving on the ASAE's Young Professional's Committee, Barbara is a volunteer on the Association of the Future initiative and pursuing the Certified Association Executive (CAE) accreditation.

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Joshua Lewis
Major Events Intern

 

Josh joined TAG in December of 2008 as its first Director of eCommunications and Office Operations.  He came to TAG after having worked for Simon Property Group for 5 years, most recently at Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza.  In his current role as Major Events Intern, he provides support in the planning, preparation, coordination and execution of TAG's major events such as the Georgia Technology Summit, Excalibur Awards, TAGit Golf Tournament, GRA/TAG Business Launch Competition and our Techie 10K.  He also serves as the liaison for the TAG Young Professionals society handling all logistical and tactical needs of the group.  Josh is a seasoned TAG employee having held various positions within the organization such as Director of eCommunications and Office Operations, Acting Director of Community and Information Resources, and Project Intern.

 

Josh is currently a Senior at Kennesaw State University majoring in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, with an add-on certification in Middle Grades Science.  He is a student member of the Georgia Assocaition of Educators (GAE) and is active in Student-Teaching organizations, choral programs as well as volunteering in Chemistry demonstrations at elementary schools to get students excited about Science.  In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with friends, running and keeping up with current events.

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Rachel Sevin
Director of Corporate Membership

Rachel Sevin joined TAG in April of 2009, serving as the Director of Corporate Membership. In this role, she is responsible for seeking out and fostering relationships with new corporate members, as well as aiding in the education of existing corporate members.  Additionally, she is responsible for several TAG societies, and committees. 

 

Originally from Franklin, TN, Rachel moved to Atlanta in 2007after graduating from Auburn University with a B.S. in Apparel Design.  At Auburn, Rachel was a member of various campus activities, including Auburn’s University Crew Team, and Silver Wings, a national organization, in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force, dedicated to creating proactive civic leaders through community service and education about national defense.

 

Prior to joining TAG, Rachel worked as a sales consultant at a high end, full service bridal store. She has also worked with Auburn’s Office of Development, assisting in the planning of events for Auburn’s major donors.

 

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Era Williams
Director of Corporate Relations and Retention

Era Williams joined TAG in December 2009, serving as the Director of Corporate Relations and Retention.  In this role, she is responsible for overseeing all aspects of member relations and retention, developing member benefit programs, and managing several TAG events and societies.

Prior to joining TAG, Era held several key leadership roles including Sales Manager for Multicast Media Networks faith division, Streaming Faith, the largest online provider of Internet broadcast solutions to the faith-based community; and Director of Sales and Marketing (faith-based initiatives) for the start up cable network Black Family Channel.  In addition, she is a member of Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church where she serves on the communications team.

Era holds a B.S. in Mass Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA and an M.B.A. in Marketing with distinction from Keller Graduate School of Management.

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Michael Bosarge
Director of eCommunications and Office Operations

Michael Bosarge joined TAG in October 2009 as the Director of eCommunications and Office Operations.  In this role, he manages the organization's web content and design as well as the creation of email communications that are sent to our TAG database.  Michael also manages the daily operations of the TAG office and serves as the staff liaison for TAG Content Management, TAG Corporate Development, and TAG Entertainment.

Prior to joining TAG, Michael worked as a Technology Systems Consultant in the Health Information Technology industry.  He graduated from the University of South Alabama with a Bachelor's Degree in Operations and Systems Management

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Regina Maddox
Director of TAG/TechAmerica Member Relations

Technology Association of Georgia and the Southeast Divison of TechAmerica joined forces in January 2010, and with that integration brought Regina Maddox to the TAG office.  Regina works to enhance partnerships and memberships between TAG members and TechAmerica members.  Feel free to click on the TAG/TechAmerica Member Benefits orange button on the TAG homepage to find out more information.

Regina is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and brings a wealth of knowledge in sales, event planning and marketing.

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Chelsea Arkin
Director of Economic and Community Resources

Chelsea joined TAG in July, 2010 as the organizations Director of Economic and Community Resources.  In this role, Chelsea is responsible for producing the TAG State of the Industry: Technology in Georgia Report, which provides information to assist in the growth and development of Georgia's technology community.  Additionally, she is responsible for executing TAG's Business Launch Competition, facilitating and producing monthly key indicator reporting to our Leadership Council, coordination of TAG Radio interviews, the TAG Ambassadors Program, Job Board, Career Fair and developing the TAG White Papers program.  She also serves as society liaison for several of TAG's 27 societies.

An Atlanta native, Chelsea recently completed her master's degrees in Public Policy and City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech, with concentrations in Economic Development and Land and Community Development.  While at Tech, Chelsea served as research assistant for Professor Mike Dobbins, helping him complete his book, Urban Design and People, which was published in April, 2009.  Also during graduate school, Chelsea worked as a Research Assistant at Market Street Services, a private community and economic development consulting firm in Atlanta,  At Market Street, her role involved conducting economic and community development research and analyses, and facilitating focus groups and interviews.

Prior to graduate school, Chelsea worked for the nonprofit organization Hands on Network as a Project Management Coordinator for the Hands on Schools program.  Among other tasks, she helped to launch the program, manage, train and oversee both corporate and community volunteers participating in projects across the country, and wrote and complied a comprehensive toolkit in connection with its implementation.  Chelsea has an A.B. in The Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College, with minors in History of Art and American History.

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Katie Sewell
Associate Director of Business Services

 

Katie joined TAG in July, 2010 in our newest created position, Associate Director of Business Services.  In this role, Katie assists in all areas of office management, as well as C-level support for the TAG CEO and COO.  She also has responsibilities related to meeting logistics, event support and other tactical tasks as requested by staff members.  Additionally, Katie has responsibility for TAG's social media initiatives, maintining the TAG Facebook page, LinkedIn group, and TAGthink.com postings.

Prior to joining TAG, Katie served as the press secretary for a Georgia Congressional Campaign.  She graduted from Kennesaw State University in December, 2008 with a degree in Communications.  Katie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, volunteering, and being on the lake.