Board of Directors
Tracy Gray, President
Tracy Gray is the President of the UNA-Atlanta Chapter. He has over 25 years of extensive experience in community, state, national, and global advocacy. He provides leadership for the United Nations Association and the Atlanta Chapter's Sustainable Development Goals. Through nonpartisan planning and strategy, Tracy makes life better for everyone in the nonpartisan United Nations community. He also provides tangible advocacy solutions to promote funding of the United Nations and peacekeeping missions.
Tracy improves the chapter’s ability to strengthen talent development, leadership training, and organizational effectiveness to support the United Nations mission. He provides training, program design, and implementation for local, national, and international initiatives focused on workforce development, economic opportunity, and public health improvements.
Tracy provides authentic and actionable steps to lead teams that collaborate and transform organizations to face new challenges, protect the planet, and ensure everyone can live in peace and prosperity. He also designs and supervises Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that leverage employee engagement to support UNA-Atlanta’s organizational goals. Tracy enhances opportunities for underserved communities by using systematic approaches to recruiting, marketing, media, and facilitation, promoting civic engagement, and fostering effective conversations on global issues.
Tracy has served on the boards of five local and national non-profit organizations. He is the CEO and Senior Consultant of Gray & Associates, a leadership development and organizational strategy firm. His client work includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chick-fil-A, the Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, Kimberly-Clark Professional Health Care, Pfizer Inc., The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, McDonald's, Morehouse College, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and Wachovia Bank.
Tracy is also an award-winning journalist and co-author of Differences Do Make a Difference, which examines strategies for fostering effective leadership and team collaboration in the workplace. Tracy has an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Northern Illinois University and completed graduate courses in media management at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Tracy improves the chapter’s ability to strengthen talent development, leadership training, and organizational effectiveness to support the United Nations mission. He provides training, program design, and implementation for local, national, and international initiatives focused on workforce development, economic opportunity, and public health improvements.
Tracy provides authentic and actionable steps to lead teams that collaborate and transform organizations to face new challenges, protect the planet, and ensure everyone can live in peace and prosperity. He also designs and supervises Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that leverage employee engagement to support UNA-Atlanta’s organizational goals. Tracy enhances opportunities for underserved communities by using systematic approaches to recruiting, marketing, media, and facilitation, promoting civic engagement, and fostering effective conversations on global issues.
Tracy has served on the boards of five local and national non-profit organizations. He is the CEO and Senior Consultant of Gray & Associates, a leadership development and organizational strategy firm. His client work includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chick-fil-A, the Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, Kimberly-Clark Professional Health Care, Pfizer Inc., The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, McDonald's, Morehouse College, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and Wachovia Bank.
Tracy is also an award-winning journalist and co-author of Differences Do Make a Difference, which examines strategies for fostering effective leadership and team collaboration in the workplace. Tracy has an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Northern Illinois University and completed graduate courses in media management at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Iesha Baldwin, VP of Membership
Iesha Baldwin is Vice President of Membership at UNA-Atlanta. Iesha is Spelman College’s first Sustainability Coordinator, leading the Sustainable Spelman Office, the hub for the college's campus-wide sustainability initiatives. She is also the author of the Dear Little Scientist picture book series, inspiring young readers to explore the world with curiosity, kindness, empathy, and imagination. These values guide her work at Spelman, where she brings together innovation, sustainability, and community.
Prior to joining Spelman College, Iesha was the inaugural AI Manufacturing Fellow at Georgia Tech’s Manufacturing Institute and 2022-2023 Environmental Justice Fellow at the University of California, Davis. These experiences have further shaped her ability to drive positive environmental change and educate future leaders through innovation and technology.
Iesha's commitment to sustainable development and education has earned her recognition as an Emerging Leader in Sustainability by Trellis Group (formerly Green Biz Group) in 2017, as well as a 30 Under 30 North American Environmental Educator award from the North American Association for Environmental Educators, the USDA Forest Service, and the Global Environmental Education Department. Most recently, she was honored with the International Green Mentor award from NYC Green Climate Schools for her role as a mentor for the next generation of sustainability leaders.
Iesha’s expertise and passion have led her to speak at prestigious events, including The National Wildlife Federation Environmental Justice Student Summit, Support + Feed and Billie Eilish's Overheated Atlanta 2024 event, The United Nations Association Leadership Summit, The RCE Global Symposium, Cornell University, University of California Davis, Spelman College, Georgia Institute of Technology, and more.
Iesha is a proud graduate of Spelman College. While in undergrad, she studied environmental science/studies and developed her environmental analysis and advocacy skills – skills that she continues to use today.
Prior to joining Spelman College, Iesha was the inaugural AI Manufacturing Fellow at Georgia Tech’s Manufacturing Institute and 2022-2023 Environmental Justice Fellow at the University of California, Davis. These experiences have further shaped her ability to drive positive environmental change and educate future leaders through innovation and technology.
Iesha's commitment to sustainable development and education has earned her recognition as an Emerging Leader in Sustainability by Trellis Group (formerly Green Biz Group) in 2017, as well as a 30 Under 30 North American Environmental Educator award from the North American Association for Environmental Educators, the USDA Forest Service, and the Global Environmental Education Department. Most recently, she was honored with the International Green Mentor award from NYC Green Climate Schools for her role as a mentor for the next generation of sustainability leaders.
Iesha’s expertise and passion have led her to speak at prestigious events, including The National Wildlife Federation Environmental Justice Student Summit, Support + Feed and Billie Eilish's Overheated Atlanta 2024 event, The United Nations Association Leadership Summit, The RCE Global Symposium, Cornell University, University of California Davis, Spelman College, Georgia Institute of Technology, and more.
Iesha is a proud graduate of Spelman College. While in undergrad, she studied environmental science/studies and developed her environmental analysis and advocacy skills – skills that she continues to use today.
Selen Beduk, Treasurer, VP of Research and Grants
Selen Beduk, Ph.D., is Vice President of Research and Grants at UNA-Atlanta. As an educational leader, Selen has more than 20 years of international experience in classroom education, program/research administration overseeing more than 10 staff members and more than 300 students, along with consultancy in transforming the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) to product and content developments. While the majority of her experience is at the higher education level, she also had the opportunity to work with middle and high school staff and students, as well as district instructional and department leaders in numerous educational initiatives focusing on the promotion of sustainable practices in educational organizations.
Selen's favorite quote for education is from Mahatma Gandhi: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." She offers benchmarking to various non-profit, cultural, and governmental partners in Georgia leveraging her access to best global education practices across the world. Her research interests include sustainability practices such as climate change, GHG emissions, waste management, eco-friendly environmental solutions, mitigation policies, conflict resolution, human rights, women entrepreneurship initiatives and the adaptation of UNSDGs into curriculum in K-16 environment. She is self-motivated, service oriented, passionate about creating value in society, especially in underserved communities, while making a difference to students and faculty with her educational leadership skills.
Selen's favorite quote for education is from Mahatma Gandhi: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." She offers benchmarking to various non-profit, cultural, and governmental partners in Georgia leveraging her access to best global education practices across the world. Her research interests include sustainability practices such as climate change, GHG emissions, waste management, eco-friendly environmental solutions, mitigation policies, conflict resolution, human rights, women entrepreneurship initiatives and the adaptation of UNSDGs into curriculum in K-16 environment. She is self-motivated, service oriented, passionate about creating value in society, especially in underserved communities, while making a difference to students and faculty with her educational leadership skills.
Nalat Phanit Black, VP of Education
Nalat Phanit Black is Vice President of Education at UNA-Atlanta. She was the Chapter’s President (2015-2017) and Sustainable Development Goals Director (2017-2021) and has been a member of the UNA network for over ten years. She is also a Global Reporting Initiative Certified Sustainability Professional, providing businesses a comprehensive sustainability assessment on the organizations’ impacts on economy, environment, people, including human rights. Nalat has over a decade of nonprofit leadership and project management experience, working in communications, nuclear nonproliferation, human rights, and environmental sustainability.
Nalat believes that when human development and the natural environment work in harmony, basic human needs would be met by all, lessening the potential for human rights violations, and creating a more peaceful world. She was featured in VoyageATL Hidden Gems in April 2020 and VoyageATL Local Stories in July 2021 for her work with UNA-Atlanta. Nalat holds a Master of Environmental Studies degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from City University of New York: Baruch College and Macaulay Honors College. For more information, please visit her website: Glocal Philosophy.
Nalat believes that when human development and the natural environment work in harmony, basic human needs would be met by all, lessening the potential for human rights violations, and creating a more peaceful world. She was featured in VoyageATL Hidden Gems in April 2020 and VoyageATL Local Stories in July 2021 for her work with UNA-Atlanta. Nalat holds a Master of Environmental Studies degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from City University of New York: Baruch College and Macaulay Honors College. For more information, please visit her website: Glocal Philosophy.
