Doug MacGinnitie, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue, has dedicated much of his career to public service. A graduate of the Emory University School of Law, where he was a Woodruff Fellow and earned membership in the Order of the Coif, Doug MacGinnitie currently serves as treasurer for the Truancy Intervention Project in Atlanta, Georgia.

Founded by the former president of the Atlanta Bar Association and a Chief Judge of the Fulton County Juvenile Court, the Truancy Intervention Project (TIP) focuses on improving the lives of young people identified as truants by providing outreach and interventions designed to keep them in school. The project’s partners include the Georgia Bar Foundation, the Atlanta Bar Association, and the Woodward Foundation. 

TIP provides a number of volunteer opportunities in support of its mission. Attorney volunteers for TIP take on the responsibility of advocating for children during truancy proceedings, helping families identify and utilize community resources, and speaking on the children’s behalf at school meetings regarding truancy. Every year, TIP hosts a Volunteer Appreciation Day to recognize their contributions.

As commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue, Doug MacGinnitie brings the sensibilities of private business to the workings of state government. Beyond his work in the public sector, Doug MacGinnitie sits on the board of St. Martin's Episcopal School in Atlanta. The school performed very well at the Elementary Science Olympiad held at Kennesaw State University this May.

The Georgia Science Olympiad is a yearly competition at which student teams from across Georgia participate in a number of events designed to test scientific and engineering knowledge. The competition provides schools with multiple avenues to enhance students' engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This year, students from St. Martin's attended the elementary level Science Olympiad, where they made a strong showing. They scored in the top 10 in four different events, competing against a field of more than 60 teams. The winning challenges included engineering tasks like bridge building and the "Straw Egg Drop." Through programs like the Science Olympiad, St. Martin's and schools across Georgia demonstrate the excellence of the state's students in STEM disciplines.

Doug MacGinnitie, commissioner at the Georgia Department of Revenue, works to collect state revenue in Georgia and maintains the state’s motor vehicle records. Since beginning his role, Doug MacGinnitie has helped increase the agency’s efficiency and contributed private business ideas to help better manage the government sector. Additionally, he currently serves as a board member and treasurer of Georgia’s Truancy Intervention Project.

The Truancy Intervention Project has worked to provide early programs and systems to keep kids in school since 1991. In order to achieve its goal, the Project has built relationships with organizations and systems such as the Atlanta City Public School System, the Georgia Bar Foundation, and the Fulton County Juvenile Court, among others. In addition to its many collaborations, the Truancy Intervention Project thrives on community and volunteer help to keep its outreach programs running.

Since the beginning of 1992, the Truancy Intervention Project has had close to 6,000 kids, age 11 years or younger, go through the program. The Project takes on children who frequently miss school and are struggling in their classes, and uses trained volunteers to help correct issues of attendance and keep kids in school. With over 300 attorney and non-attorney volunteers, the Truancy Intervention Project is able to provide the children in its program with at least 20 hours of personalized help from a single volunteer. Additionally, the volunteers help serve as role models to help children build trusting relationships that they may not have otherwise.