Keisha has a proven record of growing Atlanta’s economy and creating pathways to opportunity. She helped bring jobs, investment, and major employers to the city while expanding workforce training, supporting small businesses, and investing in young people.

• Generated new jobs that contributed to Metro Atlanta’s overall job growth numbers, which includes the city and the suburbs, and helped to decrease the region’s unemployment rate to 3.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Brought nine new Fortune 500 companies to Atlanta, including Starbucks, Cisco, BlackRock, and 14 additional companies that generated nearly 3,000 new full-time jobs and close to 50 million in new capital investment.

• Created the Center for Workforce Innovation, a public-private partnership with Atlanta Technical College, to help Atlantans train for six-figure jobs in aviation, IT, and the skilled trades with major employers like Delta Air Lines, Georgia Power, and Intercontinental Exchange.

• Distributed funds to support businesses, cosmetologists, and members of the creative community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Launched the Resurgence Grant Fund that allowed small businesses to apply for up to $40,000 of assistance during the pandemic, which has provided nearly $30 million to more than 1,000 businesses and nonprofits.

• The Bottoms Administration facilitated $11 billion in total economic output and $4.5 billion in total capital investments in Atlanta.

• Partnered with United Way of Greater Atlanta to expand the Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) and provided a $2 million investment to offer young people $200 monthly stipends while participating in mentoring, job readiness training, leadership development, and entrepreneurship certification.

• Established Learning Pods for 200 students that were open four days a week in 17 recreation centers across Atlanta to even the playing field, giving underserved children, who may not have had computers and/or Internet at home, access to virtual learning while schools were closed due to the pandemic.

• Started Atlanta’s Child Savings Account program, which created bank accounts for Atlanta Public Schools kindergartners and provided seed money to open each account, including initial deposits for qualifying students.

• Under Keisha’s leadership, Atlanta landed the 2026 FIFA World Cup and successfully hosted Super Bowl LIII, the NBA All-Star Game, and the College Football Playoff National Championship.

• Advanced major economic development opportunities, including negotiating the $5 billion Gulch deal, currently the largest public-private redevelopment project in the country, which included a 10 percent equity opportunity for minority- and female-owned businesses and a 38 percent participation goal for minority- and women-owned firms.