JOSEPH “JOE” HANDY
PRESIDENT & CEO
Joe Handy is the newly appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Black MBA Association®. He is an accomplished and multidisciplinary business and operations executive with an impeccable track record, strong business acumen, vision, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Having served as the Georgia Aquarium’s President and Chief Operating Officer since 2017, he brings a strong history of leadership to his new role, along with more than 20 years of experience in cultural institutions. In 2005, Handy joined the Aquarium’s founding team as Director of Visitor Services. Grounded in his passion for the Aquarium’s mission, he rose through the ranks of Vice President of Guest Experience, Senior Vice President of Guest Experience, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer, and most recently President of the Georgia Aquarium Foundation.
Beyond his work at Georgia Aquarium, Handy is heavily involved in the community. He serves on the Kennesaw State University (KSU) Foundation Board of Trustees and the Strategic Planning Committee, the Advisory Boards of KSU Business School, Central Atlanta Progress, the Morehouse Leadership Honor Society, and the Board of Directors for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Handy is also a member of the 100 Black Men of N. Metro Atlanta and serves as Co-Chair of the Celebration Bowl Advisory Board.
Under Handy’s leadership, Georgia Aquarium was the recipient of the 2019 Marcus Downtown Economic Impact Award. Handy received the Atlanta Business League 2018 Men of Influence Award, the Georgia Senate Remarkable and Distinguished Georgian Resolution in March 2019, ICABA – Atlanta’s Leading Influencers Award in May 2019, and Secretary of State’s Outstanding Georgia Citizen Award in July 2019. He served as Executive in Residence at Kennesaw State’s College of Business for the Fall 2019 semester, is a member of the Leadership Atlanta 2019 Class, and most recently was announced as Chairman of the Board for Atlanta Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA).
Handy was born and raised in New York, where he graduated with honors from The College of New Rochelle with a Liberal Arts Degree and a concentration in Political Science. He later went on to earn his Executive MBA from KSU. While in New York, Handy spent nine years at the American Museum of Natural History and helped launch the Rose Center for Earth and Space.
Paula Fontana
Vice President, Strategic Programming Initiatives
As Vice President of Strategic Program Initiatives, Paula Fontana’s efforts are focused on the development, coordination, and implementation of new and existing programs and initiatives that help the NBMBAA® to fulfill its responsibility to our membership. Paula works to ensure that all programming is in accordance with the mission and goals of the NBMBAA®, which includes new initiatives to support the strategic direction of the organization. To achieve successful outcomes of programming, Paula develops and implements long-term goals and objectives as well as establishing an evaluation framework to assess the strengths of the program and to identify areas for improvement.