Kay Ford
Chair of BankSouth’s advisory board for the Savannah market
Born and raised in Garden City, Georgia, Kay Ford currently serves as Chair of BankSouth’s advisory board for the Savannah market, where she further promotes the bank’s commitment to serving the Savannah community. She is past Chief Banking Officer for BankSouth, where she led the execution of the bank’s commercial, business and retail strategies across the bank’s markets throughout the state.
The former president and CEO of SunTrust Bank, Savannah, Ford retired after serving 41 years at Suntrust where she held numerous senior level positions within retail banking and private wealth management, including the position of senior vice president of Private Wealth Management.
Kay recently completed her term as Chair of the Savannah Economic Development Authority Board, serving as the organization’s first female chair in its 99-year history. A longtime volunteer for United Way of the Coastal Empire, Kay was named the “Woman of the Year” in 2023 and served as the 2016 Campaign Chair.
She is a past Board Chair and current board member of the Savannah Technical College Foundation Board and is a graduate of both Leadership Georgia and Leadership Savannah.
Throughout her career, Ford has also served on a wide range of community-driven boards including the Memorial Health Foundation of Memorial Health Medical Center; the Savannah Fund for Excellence in Education; St. Mary's Home, and Senior Citizens, Inc.
Ford and her husband, Bob, have three children: Poppy Brown and Jaime Miller, both of whom reside in Pooler, Ga., and their son, Bobby Ford, who is lives in Texas. Together, they have seven wonderful grandchildren.
Greg Parker
Founder and Executive Chairman Parker’s Kitchen
Greg Parker, the founder and Executive Chairman of Parker’s Kitchen, opened his first convenience store in Midway, Ga. in 1976. Today, he leads a nationally acclaimed company that has earned the industry’s highest honor as the Convenience Store Chain of the Year and has been honored as a USA TODAY Top Workplace. Parker’s Kitchen is widely known for high-quality foodservice, strategic growth and cutting-edge technology. With more than $1 billion in annual sales, the company completes more than a 1.1 million transactions weekly and has been included on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in America eight times.
Greg has been honored as the Convenience Store News 2025 Retailer Executive of the Year and inducted into the Convenience Store Hall of Fame. Over the course of his career, he has also been recognized as the Foodservice Leader of the Year, Tech Executive of the Year, Savannah Morning News Entrepreneur of the Year, Citizen of the Year, Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year and Georgia Trend Legacy Leader. In 2025, he earned the GoBeyondProfit Champion Award, Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce Gulfstream Community Involvement Award and Richmond Hill Business Impact Award.
A steadfast advocate of giving back to the community, Greg has donated more than $30 million to make a transformative impact across Georgia and South Carolina in four key areas: education, hunger, healthcare and heroes. Originally from Collins, Ga., he is the proud father of Olivia, Bennett and Lily Parker and has two grandchildren.