Courtesy: Yhe White House
Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms now has a new role in the federal government under President Joe Biden.
President Biden announced earlier this week that the Florida A&M alumnus will serve as Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement. In this role, Bottoms will oversee the White House Office of Public Engagement, which works at the local, state, and national levels to ensure community leaders, diverse perspectives, and new voices have the opportunity to inform the work of the President in an inclusive, transparent and responsible way.
“Mayor Bottoms understands that democracy is about making government work for working families, for the people who are the backbone of this country,” President Biden said. “She led the city of Atlanta with strength through the pandemic, through a summer of protests and pain, and through the mass shooting that left Atlanta’s Asian American community in fear. Keisha is bright, honorable, tough and has the integrity required to represent our Administration to the American public. Jill and I have known Keisha for a long time and look forward to working with her more closely.”
Keisha Lance Bottoms is a CNN Political Commentator, based in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as the 60th Mayor. Lance Bottoms became the first Mayor in Atlanta’s history to have served in all three branches of government, having previously served as a Judge and a City Councilmember. As Mayor, she committed herself to realizing her vision of “One Atlanta” — an affordable, resilient, and equitable Atlanta.
Sworn in on January 2, 2018, Keisha served as Mayor during one of the most challenging times in the history of Atlanta. After dealing with a cyberattack that nearly crippled city operations, and in the midst of a global pandemic and a racial justice movement, Keisha became a leading spokesperson regarding the challenges and opportunities facing cities and leaders across America.
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While navigating these unprecedented challenges, the Bottoms Administration was able to remain focused on the resilience of Atlanta, negotiating and closing the largest real estate redevelopment transaction in the history of Atlanta, and one of the largest in the Southeast United States, delivering millions of dollars in community benefits to people across the city.
Keisha Lance Bottoms took proactive measures to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the City and its agencies. As a result, during one of the worst economic downturns the world has ever faced, the Bottoms Administration delivered four years of balanced budgets, without resorting to property tax increases, layoffs or furloughs of City employees. At the conclusion of her term, the City’s reserves remained at a near high of $181M, far exceeding the requirements of the City Charter. The Bottoms Administration made historic strides related to criminal justice reform, became a model city for LGBTQ affairs, and reclaimed its title as running the world’s busiest and most efficient airport.
Shaped by a childhood and professional career that highlighted the inequalities amongst Americans, Keisha led her Administration in undertaking several major initiatives that would seek to eradicate systemic issues facing Atlanta, while creating a model for all cities to follow.