ATLANTA, February 8, 2006 - The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation today announced the appointment of Tjuan Dogan as senior program officer, Pathways to Success and Katherine Falen as program officer, Better Beginnings. Better Beginnings, an initiative aimed at ensuring a healthy, nurturing environment for disadvantaged children from birth through age five, and Pathways to Success, which encourages educational opportunities for low-income youth beyond high school, are two of the Blank Foundation’s four impact areas.

As a program officer at the Southern Education Foundation in Atlanta, Dogan managed the $3 million Center to Serve program, focusing on increasing educational quality and best practice at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). She also assembled the presidents and senior leadership of 77 HBCUs to train and share resources regarding accreditation, governance, and institutional effectiveness. Dogan has a PH.D. in higher education administration, an M.Ed. in student personnel services, and a B.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina. She is also a Harvard Business School Fellow.

Prior to joining the Blank Foundation, Falen was an infant/toddler program specialist at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago, where she worked with coordinators on all aspects of 0 to 3 programming and collaborated with external organizations to improve infant/toddler care and service to families. She also served on the Center’s quality assurance and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation teams, providing expertise on issues related to infant/toddler care. Falen has an M.Ed. in early childhood education with a specialization in infancy from Erikson Institute/Loyola University and a B.A. in German language and literature from Indiana University.

Formed in 1995, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation is focused on improving early childhood development, enhancing education, preserving green space, sustaining the arts and sparking collaboration among its nonprofit partners, primarily in Atlanta.

Arthur M. Blank is owner & CEO of the Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Force. He co-founded The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, in 1978 and retired from the company as co-chairman in 2001. Through his generosity, the foundation, along with Blank and his wife's personal giving, has granted over $220 million to various charitable organizations.