A July 13 report by ATL Uncensored alleges that Atlanta’s Black-founded and -centered membership club, The Gathering Spot, has fired one of their Black co-founders, TK Petersen.
The Gathering Spot is a premium membership club curated to support its members in making meaningful connections and gaining business experiences. In the Spot’s connected cities, members are invited to different enriching events beneficial for their professional and personal careers. The Gathering Spot’s mission statement boasts, “This [initiative] reflects our commitment to intentionally curating a diverse collection of entrepreneurs, creatives, executives, filmmakers, politicians, venture capitalists, lawyers, musicians, and artists under one roof.”
The ATL Uncensored Twitter post alleged, “Atlanta’s Black-founded membership club, The Gathering Spot, has reportedly fired co-founder TK Petersen, causing surprise within the community. The club, acquired by Paul Judge and Ryan Glover, owners of Greenwood digital bank in May 2022, has made an unexpected move by dismissing one of its co-founders.”
The outlet continued to ask online users, “Since its establishment in 2016 by Ryan Wilson and TK Petersen, #TheGatheringSpot has served as a prominent cultural and influential center in Atlanta. How do y’all think this might affect the overall culture and harmony of the business?”
Atlanta’s Black-founded membership club, The Gathering Spot, has reportedly fired co-founder TK Petersen, causing surprise within the community. The club, acquired by Paul Judge and Ryan Glover, owners of Greenwood digital bank in May 2022, has made an unexpected move by… pic.twitter.com/c0uuGbaFRU
— ATL Uncensored (@ATLUncensored) July 13, 2023
Although the news of Petersen’s firing hasn’t been confirmed by The Gathering Spot yet, the post references a significant move made by the company back in 2022. Last year, The Gathering Spot was acquired by Greenwood Incorporated. The acquisition boosted The Spot to be “the largest fintech and community platform for Blacks and minorities with a combined community of over 1 million people.”
After the expansion, Greenwood claimed to share a mission with The Gathering Spot of “closing the wealth gap for minorities through community building, entrepreneurship, group economics and wealth building.”
News of TK Petersen’s alleged firing sparked dissatisfaction from the community, as he’s the co-founder and CFO of The Gathering Spot and the Vice President of Greenwood digital banking.
Notably, Van Lathan Jr., a founding member of The Gathering Spot LA, expressed his disappointment with the news.
I’m a founding member of The Gathering Spot LA. I love it there, am there all the time. Having said that, if TGS isn’t committed to having Black people in key leadership positions, I’m not sure I see the point. https://t.co/Bbfk9HA0Hh
— Van “Luscious Black” Lathan Jr (@VanLathan) July 14, 2023