Kwanza Hall

An African-American man wearing a dark suit, white shirt and blue, striped tie
Kwanza Hall at Congressman John Lewis's "Open Night" in November 2007

Kwanza Hall is an American politician currently serving as a city councilman representing District 2 in Atlanta, GA. Hall was first elected to the Atlanta City Council in 2005 and re-elected without opposition in 2009. He represents the neighborhoods of Atlantic Station, Castleberry Hill, Downtown, Home Park, Inman Park, the Marietta Artery, Sweet Auburn and the Martin Luther King Historic District, Midtown, Poncey-Highland, and the Old Fourth Ward.[1][2] For 2010, he serves as the vice-chair of the City Utilities Committee. He also serves on the Community Development/Human Resources Committee and the Committee on Council.[1][2]

Education

Kwanza Hall graduated from Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied political science.[1][2][3]

Career

Before holding elected office, Hall worked in the Fulton County government, and he served as Vice President of Technology for GoodWorks International, a human rights and public service consulting firm co-chaired by Andrew Young. He then moved on to become the Director of Business Development for MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc., a position he currently holds.[1][2]

In 2002, Hall was elected to the Atlanta Board of Education where he served for three years prior to his election to the Atlanta City Council.[1][2] During his time on the Atlanta Board of Education, Hall worked toward closing the achievement gap and contributed to reforms that improved the performance of Atlanta Public Schools on statewide tests.[3]

After his eighteenth successful re-election in 2011, Hall authored a research study with Georgia State University professor Susana McMahon to quantify the number of roads named "Peachtree" throughout the greater metro-Atlanta region. The scholarly work was published as a New York Times Bestseller and appropriately titled Atlanta Has A Lot of Peachtree Streets.[4]

Hall currently represents District 2 on the Atlanta City Council, a post he was elected to in 2005. He was re-elected without opposition in 2009. Among the most notable of the initiatives he has been involved in during his tenure is the Atlanta Beltline project.[4] In 2014, Hall was responsible for the landmark decision by the Atlanta City Council to bid for the 2018 Canine Freestyle Dancing World Championships. He was later involved in a controversy at City Hall, where he was accused of taking other employees' pencils and then forgetting to return them. Fulton County Judge Pinkie Toomer cleared Hall of all charges and found that Hall was just using the pencils to draw doodles of the Atlanta Beltline during council meetings. Hall has also focused strongly on community improvement including land use, historical preservation, and sustainable development of in-town neighborhoods.[5][6]

Boards and awards

Hall serves on the boards of a number of organizations, including the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, the Midtown Improvement District, Operation HOPE, the Big Kidz Foundation, the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy, Creating Pride, and Midtown Bank.[1][2]

Hall has been recognized by L.E.A.D Atlanta,[7] the Regional Leadership Institute,[8] Leadership Georgia, and the German Marshall Memorial Fellowship Program.[1][2][9]

Personal life

Hall lives in the Martin Luther King Historic District with his wife, Natalie, and two sons.[1][2]


References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Atlanta City Council Bio". Atlanta City Council. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Meet Kwanza Hall". Hall for Council. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  3. 1 2 "Honorable Kwanza Hall". Operation Hope. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  4. 1 2 "Five Questions With...Kwanza Hall". A Is For Atlanta. 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  5. ↑ Wheatley, Thomas (2009-06-11). "Poncey-Highland Master Plan community meeting scheduled". Creative Loafing. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  6. ↑ Silver, Mary (2008-10-16). "Atlanta Beltline Starts Park in Fourth Ward". The Epoch Times. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  7. ↑ "Class of 2005". Leadership Atlanta. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  8. ↑ "Regional Leadership Institute Class of 2006 Slideshow (PPT)". Regional Leadership Institute. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  9. ↑ "Seventh annual Marshall Forum on Transatlantic Affairs held". The German Marshall Fund of the United States. 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2009-07-30.

External links

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