Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announces transition team

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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