About Us
Our Mission
The mission of Kids’ Chance of Georgia, Inc. is to provide educational scholarships to the children of Georgia workers who have been seriously or fatally injured. Kids’ Chance of Georgia, Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit charity.
Kids’ Chance of Georgia has provided over 700 scholarships to students since its beginning. For academic year 2024-25, 62 scholarships were awarded totaling approximately $125,000 in scholarship funding.
Our Mission is supported by donations, with all funds raised supporting children of Georgia workers. Kids’ Chance of Georgia has raised nearly $7 million and established memorial scholarships and endowment funds. Kids’ Chance of Georgia, Inc. has received numerous recognitions and is the first Kids’ Chance charity established in the country. It is the model for sister charities in 49 other states as well as the national organization, Kids' Chance of America.
Our History
Robert Clyatt, a workers’ compensation attorney from Valdosta, Georgia, founded the first Kids’ Chance organization in 1988. Through his work, he had witnessed the life-shattering impact that a serious workplace injury had on the children of those injured, who were now having to fund their own education. With the assistance of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Georgia Bar, Bob Clyatt incorporated Kids’ Chance, Inc. in Georgia and began raising money to fund educational scholarships. Kids’ Chance, Inc. began reaching out to other states and assisted them in establishing their own Kids’ Chance organizations. Kids' Chance of America was formed and forty-nine states have organized Kids’ Chance programs that are actively providing need-based scholarships to the families of seriously injured workers, and new organizations are being formed each year.
Our Board of Directors
Robert M. Clyatt, Esq.
Robert M.Clyatt, PC
Founder & Chairman of the Board
rclyatt@ryan-lawllc.com
Greg S. Dorsey
CPCU, AICCompTrust AGC
President
gdorsey@ctmcic.com
Mike Coan
Barrow-Braselton Joint Economic Development Authority
President Elect
rep.mikecoan@gmail.com
Gregg Porter
Savell & Williams, LLP
Secretary/Treasurer
gporter@savellwilliams.com
Michelle Lutz Hays
Comprehensive Care Group
Past President & Director
michelle@compcaregroup.net
Heather Froy, Esq.
Sadow and Froy
Director
hfroy@sadow-law.com
Rebecca K. Halberg
Stottlemyer & Associates, LLC
Director
rebecca@stottlemyerlaw.com
Sgt. Fredrick Harper
City of Atlanta
Director
director@defenseandawareness.com
Shirley Hinton
National DCP, LLC
Director
shirley.hinton@natdcp.com
Hon. Jeffrey Kight
Superior Court of Georgia,
First District
Director
jhkight@gmail.com
Randy Rizor, MD
The Physicians Pain & Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia
Director
rrizor@thephysicians.com
Courtney Colina
Paulding County School System
Director
courtneylynn8937@gmail.com
Ben Vinson
GA Board of Workers' Compensation
Director
vinsonb@sbwc.ga.gov
Terry Newsom, Jr.
UA Local Union 72
Director
TNewsome@ua72.org
John Fervier
Director of Facilities Management, Waffle House, Inc.
Director
johnfervier@wafflehouse.com
Liz Smith
Georgia Power Company
Director
lizsmith@southernco.com
Kids' Chance of America Council of State Delegates
Lori Ellwood, RN, ONC
Resurgens Spine Center Director
ellwoodla@resurgens.com
Richard L. Duhe, M.A., L.P.C.
Mental Health Therapist - Michael C. Hilton, M.D.
richardduhe@michaelhiltonmd.com
Directors Emeritus
Lendon Gibbs
Dick Dorsey (in memoriam)
Yvette Miller
Doug McCoy (in memoriam)
John Ross (in memoriam)
Polly Hale
Ann Bishop
Connie Chandler
Joe Leman
Hon. Carolyn Hall
Management
Lynda Snyder Smith
Executive Director
lyndasmith@kidschancega.org
Lise Weaver
Financial & General Operations Coordinator
liseweaver@kidschancega.org