Before starting CFG, Richie worked 14 years in the marketplace in various sales and marketing roles. After experiencing success in that field, Richie and his family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to help plant a North Point Church partnership in 2007. He served 6 years as the Executive Director and Service Programming Director. After stepping away from ministry for over a year, God called him and his family back to serve at a local church. In 2014, they moved to Dothan, Alabama, where Richie served over five years as the Executive Director and led the church’s Stewardship Team. In 2019, Richie sensed God’s prompting to step away from his day-to-day role at the church and take his business/ministry experiences to serve other churches.
Sanford obtained his B.B.A. in accounting in 1980, became a Certified Public Accountant in 1983, and obtained an M.B.A. in 1986 from Duke University. Following graduate school, he was a co-founder and principal in two successful telecom businesses, one of which, in 1995, made the list of the Inc 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. Sanford was also a co-founder and investor in Seraphim Partners, an Atlanta based angel investment fund.
