Leadership DeKalb Receives $10,000 in Furnishings From Ikea

Leadership DeKalb in Decatur received $10,000 in-kind from IKEA Atlanta to refurnish its entire office space as part of the national IKEA Life Improvement Challenge.

Founded in 1986, Leadership DeKalb, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, is a community leadership development program that continues to build a network of ethnically and culturally diverse adult and youth leaders who are committed to addressing and resolving the issues that impact the quality of life in DeKalb County and the metro region.

IKEA Atlanta is located at 441 16th St.in Atlantic Station.

The program is part of the larger IKEA Life Improvement Project, a program designed to help inspire and empower people to improve their lives, as well as the lives of others in their community.

The IKEA Life Improvement Challenge received almost 100 inspiring proposals throughout the U.S. that were submitted by IKEA co-workers. Each co-worker proposal highlighted an organization that works to help improve the lives of others in their local communities.

A total of $370,000 will be distributed to various local organizations with 37 IKEA stores participating in the Challenge nationwide.

“We are appreciative of the valuable contribution IKEA Atlanta has made for our office makeover. IKEA is turning our office into a more effective work space as well as a more engaging environment for community leaders to gather,” said Sara Fountain, executive director of Leadership DeKalb, in a news release. “By not spending our funds on this redesign and office improvement, we can continue to focus our resources on our mission towards transforming our local community for the greater good through leadership development for adults and youth.”

The organizations that were selected were decided from more than 4,000 co-worker votes through an online survey, as well as almost 40,000 customer votes via text.

“I am proud of all the IKEA Atlanta co-workers who participated in the Life Improvement Project! We had five volunteer teams of passionate co-workers that want to carry out the IKEA vision to create a better everyday life for such deserving organizations here in Atlanta,” said Jim Anastos, store manager of IKEA Atlanta, in a statement. “Leadership DeKalb won the 2 voting; and, we are very excited to partner with them. Their new IKEA office will help them provide leadership training to high school students and local leaders that make a difference in our community.”