MEET
JEN
“I’ve called Brookhaven home for 18 years. I’m raising my two daughters in the Ashford Park neighborhood, where you can frequently find me hosting driveway movie parties or working carpool duty at Ashford Park Elementary. I know how special our tight knit community is, and I want to make sure it remains special and strong for future generations. That's why I'm running.”
Raised in Gwinnett County, I graduated from University of Georgia with a BA in Political Science with Honors in 2003. From there, it didn't take me long to set down roots right here in the Ashford Park neighborhood, back before Brookhaven was even a city. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to raise my two daughters in this tight knit community while I’ve enjoyed a rewarding career in nonprofit advocacy and administration, and as a volunteer, helped build Brookhaven into the strong city we love today.
Currently I’m the President and CEO of HealthMPowers, a $7 million children's healthcare nonprofit founded by the late Senator Johnny Isakson’s brother. Previously I served in leadership positions at Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Georgia Organics and League of Women Voters of Georgia. I was the recipient of Georgia Conservancy’s 2012 Longleaf Award for Excellence in Environmental Leadership, and in 2007 The Atlanta Business Chronicle named me as one of Atlanta’s "40 under 40: Up & Comers”.
In 2016, I was appointed to the City of Brookhaven’s Affordable Housing Task Force, which resulted in the first city ordinance in metro Atlanta requiring 10% affordable housing of all new multi-unit developments.
As an appointed member of the Brookhaven Zoning Rewrite Committee, I helped shape our zoning code to include more setbacks and open public spaces as well as codes to help define and preserve our neighborhoods’ distinct characters. I was also appointed in 2015 to the Charter Review Committee and was re-appointed and elected chair to Second Charter Review Committee (required by law every 5 years) in 2020. I also was a member of the neighborhood group who advocated for the creation of the Ashford Forest Preserve, the largest greenspace acquisition in Brookhaven. I was appointed to serve as Councilmember for District 2 on the Brookhaven City Council by Mayor Ernst and unanimously ratified by Councilmembers Funny, Jones and Simmons on August 22, 2023.
In addition to my service to the City of Brookhaven, I have previously served on the Board of Directors of We Love BuHi, Faith in Public Life, Georgia Women for a Change, and Girls Opportunity for Adventure and Leadership. In addition, I co-led the initiation of a pilot project on Basic Income in the Old Fourth Ward in 2019. I have been the head coach of Ashford Park Elementary’s Odyssey of the Mind team and frequent carpool and classroom volunteer at both Ashford Park Elementary and Chamblee Middle School. I often attend daily mass at Our Lady of the Assumption church in Brookhaven.