Bunnie Jackson-Ransom is the President and CEO of firstClass, inc. - a full-service public relations and marketing firm. She has been the driving force behind firstClass, inc. for the past 33 years, conceptualizing the company, working with clients and implementing its programs.

Ms. Jackson-Ransom has a diverse business background, extensive administrative experience and organizational know-how, and a dedicated commitment to community involvement. Educated in the public schools of North Carolina, she received a Bachelor of Science in Business from North Carolina College and a Master of Science in Business from North Carolina Central University. Graduating magna-cum-laude, she worked her way through college; and it is that same attitude that has propelled her and firstClass, inc. into prominence.

The professional career of Bunnie Jackson-Ransom spans some 40 years. During this period, she has effectively been a college professor, governmental agency official, business owner and mentor to many young women who aimed to follow in her footsteps. In her current business at firstClass, inc., she has worked on accounts ranging from sausages to shoes and patients to politicians; she has worked with clients as large as Waste Management, Inc. to the sole entrepreneur whose business is just as important and twice the challenge. Clients she has worked with are too numerous to list; however, a few include The National Conference of Black Mayors (29 years), Waste Management, Inc. (14 years), Burger King Corporation (12 years) and the Trumpet Awards (7 years). Ms. Jackson-Ransom has developed an unblemished reputation in the field of public relations and has excelled in community relations, as a marketing tool, with extensive experience in working with urban community leaders. She is responsible for designing and implementing many on-going community action projects for her clients, working to include the goals of the urban community that benefit and enhance the lives of the least fortunate.

While serving as President and owner of firstClass, inc. Ms. Jackson-Ransom responded to a request to manage the careers of several performing artists; and from 1978 through 1988, she was the Chief Administrative Officer of a conglomerate company under the umbrella of Atlanta Artists. She began her career in the music industry after she had already distinguished herself as a businesswoman in the areas of education, government and public relations. As President of Atlanta Artists Management, she was also responsible for the daily activities of Atlanta Artist Productions and Atlanta Artists Records, and managed the recording career of acts such as CAMEO and Larry Blackmon and The SOS Band. Ms. Jackson-Ransom managed multi-million dollar record sales, toured the world with performances and promotions, negotiated production deals for her artists and carried these recording artists to gold and platinum record status. This success, however, did not satisfy her thirst for serving her fellowman; therefore, she made time to teach a course in “Artist Representation” at Georgia State University in order to give local Atlanta artists the benefit of her knowledge and experience in the music industry. Many talented persons have had their contracts reviewed and demo tapes critiqued by Bunnie Jackson-Ransom when there was no other place to go.

Ms. Jackson-Ransom has received numerous awards and honors, including being listed in both Who’s Who in American Women, Who’s Who in Georgia, and Who’s Who in Black America from 1981 to the present; she was also named Who’s Who in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 1992. She was presented with the Bronze Jubilee Public Awards in 1984; “America’s Top 100 Black Business and Professional Women” by Dollars and Sense Magazine in 1985; and the Black Journalist Awards in Community Relations and Event Planning for 1992 and Public Relations for 1993. She was named among the list of “Women of Influence” by the Atlanta Business League in 1997 through 2008; and received the Millennium Pacesetter Award from this organization in 2003. She has been cited for community service by the West Hunter Street Baptist Church; the Atlanta Public Schools; the U. S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons; University John-Hope Homes; The Concerned Black Clergy of Atlanta, and many more. Most recently, she received the Ground Crew Award in community service from SCLC in January, 2008.

Ms. Jackson-Ransom is a member of the National Council of Negro Women; Atlanta Association of Black Journalists; Executive Committee of the Atlanta Branch of the NAACP; the Azalea Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.; the Metropolitan Atlanta Coalition of 100 Black Women. She is a former president of the Atlanta Chapter of Jack & Jill, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Business League; and an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority where she served as past local chapter president and past chairman of the National Projects Committee. She is a past president of the Metropolitan Atlanta Coalition of 100 Black Women, and a past Chairperson of the Georgia Human Relations Commission. She was the organizer of the Cascade Heights branch of the League of Women Voters, and remains politically active in her community and the City of Atlanta. In the early 1970’s she served the City of Atlanta as its first Black “First Lady” during her marriage to the late Mayor Maynard Jackson.

Bunnie Jackson-Ransom is the proud mother of three daughters, Beth Jackson Hodges, Brooke Jackson Edmond, and Rae Yvonne Ransom; and the mother of one son, Maynard H. Jackson III. More recently, she is the grandmother of Isabella Daisy Jackson and Luke Benjamin Jackson born to Maynard III; and a grandson, Hayes Jackson Edmond, and two granddaughters, Brooke Lee Irene Edmond and Cassandra Elizabeth Edmond, born to Brooke and her husband, Dr. Rod Edmond. She is an active member of the Cascade United Methodist Church.

With over 17 years of IT experience, Brion Craig has developed a sharp eye for staying abreast of the current IT trends. As an entrepreneur who quickly built his own successful IT consulting business, The Craig Group, Inc., he has the knowledge and expertise to help business owners stay on top of their IT needs.

Over the years, Craig’s clients range from corporate clients to small home based business owners. His vast knowledge in the IT arena, ranging from web development and promotion, network administration and end user support, ensures his clients have one source for all their IT needs.

Craig has worked with firstClass, inc. for five years in a number of capacities.
Of course, it is his IT skills that maintains the server and the precious media databases at firstClass, inc. However, he also is responsible for many of the IT tasks that are needed to create newsletters, flyers, signs and brochures as well as edit and enhance photos, etc. for clients. 

Brion was educated at NYC Technical College and Career Blazers Business School in New York City and continues his education with the latest IT techniques on a consistent basis.

He and his wife, Shereen, have been active members of Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral in Austell, Georgia for over 16 years. They have three sons, Brion, Joshua and Josiah who are all very athletic and active in the local football and basketball leagues.

Kelley Bass Jackson serves firstClass, inc. as a service consultant in the area of speech-writing, copywriting, and other tasks that require her skills as a writer, editor, producer, and public relations strategist. She brings to the company a broad range of industry experience. An Atlanta native, Mrs. Jackson is a graduate of Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She also studied screenwriting at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA.

Prior to joining the firstClass, inc. team, Kelley spent several years working in communications. Under the banner Jackson Wordsmiths, she has consulted for a host of prominent, high-profile public, private, corporate and entertainment figures and organizations needing support in the areas of public relations, communications writing, speechwriting, scriptwriting, and video production.

Most recently, Jackson has been tapped by national political campaigns, state-elected and local-level officials and directors, as well as published authors, to write speeches, blogs, essays and other communications collateral on their behalf.

She is a former communications consultant with the DeKalb County CEO’s Office. She worked as the public information officer for the City of College Park and directed all public relations activities for the city, including its broadcast cable operations and website. Jackson served as the public relations manager for Girls Incorporated of Greater Atlanta, a local affiliate of the national non-profit youth-serving organization Girls Inc.

Over the years, Jackson has volunteered her skills to numerous civic organizations. Recently, she was named Vice Chair of PACT (Police and Citizen’s Together), a citizen’s advisory board for the City of Riverdale’s Police Department. In 2003, she was a founding adult advisory board member of the City of College Park’s Youth Leadership Council. Jackson has served on the steering committee for the Hughes Spaulding Children’s Hospital “Mardi Gras Madness” 2003 Annual Fundraiser; the Inaugural Planning Committee for Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s 2002 Inaugural Ball; and the public relations committee for the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s “American Embassy Ball” 2001 Fundraiser.

Jackson spent several years in Los Angeles holding various positions in the entertainment industry, including music journalist, associate producer, assistant to the producer, researcher, and production assistant. While employed at one of Hollywood’s major studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Jackson worked as an assistant to producers and development executives for television shows and film production companies. Jackson also worked as a contributing writer for music industry trade publications BRE and Rap Sheet, and was the features editor for Los Angeles-based consumer style publication, Dysonna Magazine.

Jackson’s work as a researcher on FOX Television’s “Encounters” and Paramount Pictures’ “The Leeza Show” prepared her for producing documentary programming. In 1996, Jackson served as the associate producer on the critically acclaimed ABC Television Special “The Story of Mothers and Daughters,” the first documentary film to air on that network in more than 20 years.

Jackson began her career as a writer with American Media where she created the voice and served as head writer for the nationally syndicated entertainment radio program, “Girl Talk,” which aired in approximately 60 urban markets for more than a year.

Zachery Slaton comes to firstClass, inc. as a seasoned professional with 25 years of experience in telecommunications. He is a graduate of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia where he earned a Master of Divinity with a concentration on church history. Because of his experience and training in theology, he has a special sensitivity to community relations projects and an affinity for working with grass root organization and corporate affairs implemented by the company.

Zachery joined firstClass, inc in 2001 as Administrative Assistant to the President/CEO of the company. Because firstClass, inc. is an intimate work environment, all duties are shared between the CEO, Accounts Assistant and the Administrative Assistant. Zachery is the main source of clerical, logistical and maintenance of the agency’s direct mail database, which currently contains more than 10,000 community and nation-wide contacts. Mr. Slaton is also responsible for the creative design of programs, flyers, and other supportive marketing tools; special event planning and coordination; meeting arrangements; and networking with a variety of corporate representatives and executives.

Prior to joining the firstClass, inc. family, Mr. Slaton worked as a Data Analyst-Manager for BellSouth. In this capacity he was responsible for performance metrics analyses and identifying process improvement opportunities. He retired from BellSouth in 2005.

A native of Georgia, born in Griffin, Zachery has lived in Atlanta since 1968 and is a member of Cascade United Methodist Church.

Tomayria Roberts comes to firstClass, inc. as a intern.