About Us

Givft™, pronounced ‘gift’ and means ’the gift that gives’, is a project of Congressional District Programs, Inc. – a registered 501(c)(3) public charity incorporated in the State of Florida. EIN #65-0970090. Givft™, was created in 2005 to connect charities with the corporate community in an effort to raise philanthropic awareness and generate donations for worthy causes. We aspires to harness the power of retail and corporate gift markets to generate resources for social good and envision our Charity gift cards serving the dual purpose of motivating and empowering consumers to create a better world while reducing materialism and waste.

Leadership 

Alana Berlin, Founder

Alana Berlin is a social entrepreneur and professional with a 20+ year career in marketing, advertising and sales including twelve years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. Ms. Berlin has been involved with philanthropy throughout her adult life. She has donated resources, time and energy to many charities including Hands on Atlanta, CARE, Atlanta Women’s Foundation, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Refugee Resettlement and Immigrations Services of Atlanta.

Advisors 

Cassady V. Brewer, Partner, Morris Manning & Martin, LLP

Cassady V. ("Cass") Brewer is a partner in the firm’s Tax, Exempt Organizations, and Wealth Planning Practices. Mr. Brewer focuses his practice in the areas of income tax planning, business formations, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and limited liability companies, tax controversy, tax-exempt investments in real estate, and wealth transfer and protection.

Mr. Brewer is a past Chair of the Partnership and LLC Committee and a past Member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Mr. Brewer also serves as Chair of the American Bar Association's Real Estate Tax Subcommittee on Environmental Tax issues. Mr. Brewer participated in the drafting of the Georgia Limited Liability Company and Limited Liability Partnership Acts and is a frequent speaker at local and regional seminars and workshops concerning federal and state tax matters, especially partnership and limited liability company issues and tax and succession planning for closely-held businesses. He is a member of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association and the Tax Section of the State Bar of Georgia, and he is a member of the Atlanta Tax Forum.

Mr. Brewer was selected as one of Georgia Trend Magazine's 2006 and 2008 "Legal Elite" in the field of taxes, trusts and estates. Mr. Brewer also was named by Atlanta Magazine as one of its "Georgia SuperLawyers" in the tax field for 2007, 2008, and 2009. Most recently, Mr. Brewer was named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, for 2008 and 2009.

Dirk P. Libaers, PhD.

Dirk P. Libaers is an assistant professor in entrepreneurship and innovation at the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He earned his PhD in Public Policy with a focus on technology and innovation policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He obtained his Master’s of Science in Technology and Innovation Management at the University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K., and his Master’s of Business Administration at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Dirk's research interests include: international technology entrepreneurship; technology transfer and commercialization; technology-based economic development and social entrepreneurship and innovation. He works closely with the Ewing M. Marion Kauffman Foundation, the largest not-for-profit organization for entrepreneurship on various aspects of technology entrepreneurship.