December 2025 Luncheon

Jabari Gibbs, a native of Atlanta, moved to Coastal Georgia in 2020 to attend the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University. While in college, he interned with The Current and earned multiple statewide and national awards, including the Georgia Press Association’s Watchdog Story of the Year and a College Media Association award for diversity coverage. After graduating in 2023, Jabari was accepted into Report for America and now serves as the Glynn County accountability reporter for The Current. His work centers on transparency, public trust, and holding decision-makers accountable. Outside of journalism, he enjoys watching NBA basketball, reading history, and staying loyal—through highs and lows—to his Atlanta Falcons.

J. Quinton Staples II is a Greensboro, North Carolina native and a higher education diversity, equity, and inclusion leader with more than a decade of experience building systems that advance student success and belonging. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Elon University, a master’s degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a doctoral degree in education from the University of Georgia.

Across his career, Quinton has served in progressive leadership roles in student affairs and equity strategy, including senior diversity officer roles. In these positions he led the creation of an intercultural resource center, expanded identity-based leadership and mentoring programs for Black and other historically underserved students, and coordinated summer bridge and outreach initiatives that connected K–12 students and families to college pathways. His portfolio has included oversight of first-year and sophomore experience initiatives, community partnerships, and federal and foundation grants supporting access, retention, and academic success.

Quinton is recognized for his strength in execution, decision making, and innovation. He is skilled at setting clear goals, monitoring progress, and building the structures needed to follow through. Colleagues rely on him to anticipate problems, analyze complex information, and make high-quality decisions with limited data. He enjoys working with abstract ideas and developing unconventional solutions, and he pays close attention to detail in planning, reporting, and resource management. His research training and applied practice integrate qualitative and quantitative methods, survey and tool design, and accessible reporting that help leaders translate data into action.

As founder of Atlas & Crown, Quinton partners with campuses and mission-driven organizations to align equity commitments with measurable outcomes. Atlas & Crown focuses on equity-centered strategy, infrastructure assessment, and leadership coaching, helping clients connect investments in belonging, student success, and organizational culture to clear return-on-investment narratives and accountability measures.

Quinton lives in Brunswick, Georgia with his wife Evie and their daughter Judah. Outside of work he enjoys distance running and singing. He remains committed to helping communities engage in honest, constructive conversations about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and other aspects of identity while working toward a more just society for future generations.

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