As Atlanta’s new mayor shapes her agenda, a wide variety of people will advise her, including activists and recording artists, CEOs and philanthropic leaders.
Thursday, Keisha Lance Bottoms unveiled the names of more than 38 prominent Atlantans who will advise her during her first 100 days in office and beyond.
Among them: Home Depot Chief Financial Officer Carol Tome, UPS CEO David Abney, Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian, Grammy-award winning rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris, rapper/activist Michael “Killer Mike” Render and United Way of Greater Atlanta President & CEO Milton J. Little Jr.
Bottoms also announced she had appointed Marva Lewis, her mayoral campaign manager, as chief of staff. It was Bottoms’ first cabinet-level appointment.
“I really want them to come with fresh ideas,” Bottoms said of her transition team. “We are seeking to make sure that we attract the best talent in the city and that we are forward thinking and not just thinking about whatever the issues are that we are facing today.”
The team also will make hiring recommendations to fill vacancies created by departures from former Mayor Kasim Reed’s staff. Two immediate vacancies include the city’s human resources directory and fire chief.
Bottoms campaigned on creating a $1 billion fund for affordable housing, criminal justice reform and other social justice issues.
She said her team would help put “some meat and bones” on some of the issues confronting the city.
Bottoms won a runoff election against fellow former City Councilwoman Mary Norwood on Dec. 5. The runoff compressed the time frame Bottoms had before taking office. She was inaugurated less than a month later and had to immediately grapple with issues surrounding the city’s hosting of the college football national championship.
“Things are happening at rapid speed,” she said.
The transition team:
- David Abney, Chairman & CEO, UPS
- John Ahmann, Executive Director, Westside Future Fund
- Byron Amos, Atlanta Public Schools Board Member, District 2
- Claire Lewis "Yum" Arnold, CEO, Leapfrog Services
- Ed Bastian, CEO, Delta
- Randy Beall, Business Manager, Atlanta and North Georgia Building and Construction Trades
- Raphael Bostic, President & CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
- Matt Bronfman, CEO, Jamestown
- Cassius F. Butts, Former Obama Appointee and CEO, Capital Fortitude Business Advisors
- Senator Jason Carter, Partner, Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP
- Ron Clark, Founder, The Ron Clark Academy
- Shan Cooper, Chief Transformation Officer, WestRock
- David Cummings, CEO, Atlanta Ventures
- Mawuli Mel Davis, Attorney & Co-Founder, The Davis Bozeman Law Firm
- Rene Diaz, President & CEO, The Diaz Group
- Christopher R. Edwards, MD, Fellowship Trained Spine Surgeon, Atlanta Neuro Spine Institute, LLC
- David H. Eidson, President & CEO, Coxe Curry & Associates
- Sloane Evans, Vice President, Human Resources, Georgia Power Company
- Marty Flanagan, President & CEO, Invesco Ltd.
- Clifford "TI" Harris, Grammy Award Winning Rapper, Actor, Entrepreneur & Activist
- Virginia Hepner, Former Corporate Executive & Arts Leader
- Douglas J. Hertz, Chairman & CEO, United Distributors, Inc.
- Nancy Flake Johnson, President & CEO, Urban League of Greater Atlanta, Inc.
- Noel Khalil, Chairman & CEO, Columbia Ventures LLC
- Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, Founding Partner, Lawrence & Bundy LLC
- Kenny Leon, Tony Award Winning Director & Founder, True Colors Theatre Company
- Milton J. Little, Jr. President & CEO, United Way of Greater Atlanta
- Amol Naik, Director of Special Projects, MailChimp
- Keith T. Parker, President & CEO, Goodwill of North Georgia
- Beatriz Perez, Senior Vice President, Chief Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
- Cecil Phillips, Chairman & CEO, Place Properties
- Helen Smith Price, Vice President, Global Community Affairs, The Coca-Cola Company and President, The Coca-Cola Foundation
- Michael "Killer Mike" Render, Artist, Activist, & Businessman
- A.J. Robinson, President, Central Atlanta Progress, Inc./Atlanta Downtown Improvement District
- Bill Rogers, Chairman & CEO, SunTrust Banks, Inc.
- Dr. Catherine Ross, Professor of City Planning and Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Carol Tomé, CFO & Executive Vice President, The Home Depot, Inc.
- Reverend Raphael G. Warnock, Senior Pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church
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