Terry Tucker named CEO of Families First

Terry Tucker, a prominent voice in Atlanta’s nonprofit and for-profit worlds, has been named CEO of Families First.

Tucker, 42, is currently chief strategy officer and general counsel with the City of Refuge. He begins his new role with the Atlanta-based  in October. 

“In the quest for CEO, we were thrilled to encounter Terry’s mix of creativity, passion, and respect for the power of data, all of which we expect to leverage to even greater impact on behalf of the children and families we serve,” Sunny Burrows, chairman of the board of Families First said in a statement.

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The search for a successor to then CEO Kim Anderson began earlier this year.

Tucker admits he didn’t know a lot about the Atlanta nonprofit that promotes family self-sufficiency and helps provide stable homes for children through adoption and foster care.

 “I’d heard about them,” he said. “When I started to dig in and see what hey did, it obviously struck a very personal chord for me.”

Tucker is the father of three adoptive sons.

“A big focus of the organization is changing the lives of children through adoption and foster care.”

He said a lot of agencies focus on placement. And, while it’s a big step, "it’s a first step. You have to be there until they can walk, run and fly by themselves.”

Tucker grew up  in Goshen, Ala., where a local Radio Shack manager  mentored him and taught the young Tucker about computers. By the age of 13, Tucker was teaching coding at the local technical college