Ronald E. Frieson is Senior Vice President, External Affairs for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.  In this role, Frieson is responsible for marketing, public relations, and government and legislative matters.  He is also responsible for leading Georgia Children’s Health Alliance, a statewide wellness initiative focused on the health of Georgia’s children.  Prior to this role, Mr. Frieson served as Interim President and CEO of the Atlanta Urban League, and he is credited with providing needed leadership during a difficult period in the organization’s history.  Most of Ron’s professional career was spent in the telecommunications arena, retiring as President of Georgia Operations for BellSouth Corporation, where he was responsible for the regulatory, legislative, public policy and external affairs for the company.  Mr. Frieson oversaw 18,000 employees in the state as well as the residential and business owners of the 3.5 million access lines in the state.  Prior to that role, he served as Vice President of Transition and Strategy for BellSouth Consumer Services.  In that role, Frieson led the customer interface strategy and the system infrastructure necessary to support residential customers. 

In February 2001, Mr. Frieson was appointed as the first Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer of BellSouth Corp. where he assisted BellSouth’s chairman and CEO and the senior officer team by creating and leading the company’s diversity strategies and initiatives throughout the corporation.

Mr. Frieson began his BellSouth career with TechSouth Publishing Services in 1985, and became an Operations Manager in the Advertising & Publishing Group in 1989.  After holding various positions within the company, in 1995 he was named Vice President – Advertising & Publishing.  In 1997, he was named Group Vice President and led the international expansion of advertising & publishing in Latin America and directed the on-line yellow pages effort. 

Mr. Frieson is co-owner of WineStyles Cascade, a wine retail and gift store and co-owner of Landon’s Restaurant, an upscale casual dining establishment.  He is currently the chair of the American Kidney Fund National Board of Trustees, and serves as a board member of SunTrust Bank Atlanta, American Intercontinental University, Colorado Technical University, and 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.  His prior board membership includes the Atlanta Police Foundation, Hands on Atlanta, the Atlanta Urban League, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Project. Mr. Frieson was also a member of the Leadership Atlanta class of 2002.

Mr. Frieson holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Tennessee and a MBA in Information Systems from Georgia State University.