The Georgia Public Policy Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of Jay Neely and Jeb Stewart to the Board of Trustees, bringing the total number of board members to 11. 

John J. “Jay” Neely III is vice president for Law & Public Affairs at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., where he manages the company’s Legal Department, state and local government affairs, and community relations.

Before joining Gulfstream in 1999, Neely was an attorney in the Atlanta office of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP. 

Neely is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Department of Economic Development and serves on the boards of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Telfair Museums, the Russell Foundation, the Georgia Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturers Education Foundation. He is a past chairman of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce Board of
Directors. 

In 2018, Neely was appointed by the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia to serve on the search committee for a new president of Georgia Southern University. He has served on the Leadership Georgia Board of Trustees, as the Leadership Georgia chairman of selections and as president of Leadership Savannah’s Board of Directors.

Neely earned his B.S. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law. A certified pilot, the Savannah-area resident and his wife, Courtney Parks Neely (a former employee of the Foundation), have two children.

Jeb Stewart is an entrepreneur and investor. He is president of Xana Management, LLC, among other business, investment and philanthropic ventures.

As an entrepreneur, partner, or advisor, Jeb has been part of building businesses in the banking, computer hardware, construction, engineering, manufacturing, technology, and telecommunications industries. Among prior involvements, he was the founder, chairman of the Board, and CEO of SciHealth Holdings, Inc., a healthcare decision support software and consulting company, acquired by Mediware Corporation in 2008.  

Stewart has served in leadership positions of more than 40 business, investment and civic organizations. These include Leadership Georgia and Leadership Gwinnett, the Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and Tech High, a charter school the Georgia Public Policy Foundation helped establish in Atlanta Public Schools. Stewart has served on multiple boards for his alma mater, Georgia Tech. He is active locally in coaching youth sports, church, angel investment groups, multiple professional and civic associations, and philanthropic causes.

Stewart and his wife, Stephanie, have two sons and live in Gwinnett County.

“Jay and Jeb enjoy generational roots in Georgia, and bring to the table their business experience, geographic diversity, civic leadership and an intense interest in Georgia’s competitive advantage,” said Rogers Wade, chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

“They’ve been long-term supporters of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and we’re excited about their enthusiastic participation as the Foundation confronts Georgia’s new and ongoing challenges and expands its outreach and support across the state.”