ALBANY, GA -- The Honorable Shirley Franklin is a straight shooter when it comes to politics, education and activism. Atlanta's former mayor will draw from three decades of public service as the keynote speaker at Albany State University's Honor's Day Convocation on Friday, March 23 at 10 a.m. in the HPER Gymnasium. ASU students with a 3.5 or higher grade point average who meet the established criteria will be honored. A faculty member, researcher and employee will also receive an annual award.
Using the theme, "Potential. Realized. A Legacy of Academic Excellence," Franklin will challenge students to engage in the political process, speak up, and listen to other perspectives about social issues. The Howard University alumna was elected mayor in 2001, becoming the first female to hold the post and the first black woman to be elected mayor of a major Southern city.
The Philadelphia, Penn. native earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology at HU and a Masters of Arts degree in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She founded Clarke-Franklin and Associates, Inc., a public affairs firm specializing in community engagement and strategic planning and held the William and Camille Cosby Endowed Professorship Program chair for social sciences at Spelman College.
Franklin's professional experience includes government management, ethics reform, oversight of the world's busiest airport, water and sewer infrastructure expansion, advocacy for the homeless, digital access for underserved communities, and support of the arts and higher education. The completion of a $6.3 billion runway project at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, an initiative called the "Blueprint to End Homelessness in Atlanta in Ten Years" program and transportation improvements are her major accomplishments.
She is currently board chair and CEO of Purpose Built Communities, Inc., a national non-profit organization established to replicate mixed-use housing developments in cities around the country based on a model in Atlanta. She is co-chair of the Atlanta Regional Commission on Homelessness and co-chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the ASU Office of University Communications at (229) 430-4671.
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