Widow to run for Atlanta City Council seat

Shalise Steele-Young said she promised her husband she’d run to continue his term for Atlanta City Council District 3. CONTRIBUTED

Shalise Steele-Young said she promised her husband she’d run to continue his term for Atlanta City Council District 3. CONTRIBUTED

Just over a month after her husband Atlanta City Councilmember District 3 Ivory Lee Young Jr. passed away, Shalise Steele-Young announced she will run to continue his term, according to a press release.

The special election to fill the seat for District 3, which includes representing key neighborhoods near the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is set for March 19.

Steele-Young worked for the United Way and was assigned as a loaned executive to various social service organizations throughout the city of Atlanta. In addition, she worked for both the Mayor’s Office of Human Services under Mayor Kasim Reed as well as the Regional Commission on Homelessness founded by former Mayor Shirley Franklin.

She is a licensed ordained minister and the Founder/Executive Director of the Repairer of the Breach International Ministries, a faith-based organization committed to the empowerment of low-income/homeless individuals and families.

She said she stood by her husband for past nine years aiding him in his work on Westside development.

“Ivory and I met around service,” she said in a recent radio interview. “Service brought us together. And I pray that the residents of District 3 will allow me the opportunity to serve them for the next three years. It would be an honor.”