President Biden Announces FAMU Alumna Keisha Lance Bottoms as Senior Advisor for Public Engagement

President Joe Biden announced that Florida A&M University alumna  and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms 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. 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,” Biden said. “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.”

Bottoms is a CNN political commentator, based in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as the 60th Mayor. She is seen as a visionary leader in bringing equitable outcomes to the forefront of government and commerce. 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.

Bottoms graduated from the FAMU School of Journalism & Graphic Communication before completing her law degree at the Georgia State University College of Law.