Former ATL Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Set To Become White House Senior Adviser

She’ll be engaging with communities across the country!

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is now set to become a White House senior adviser, The Washington Post reports. 

Bottoms was elected as mayor of Atlanta in 2017, making history as only the second Black woman to run the southern state. She served the city proudly, becoming an ally to Atlanta natives and becoming a rising star among the Democratic party. Last year, she shocked everyone by announcing that she would not be running for a second term. While it was unexpected, Bottoms said she felt she had done all she set out to accomplish in office and she was “not yet certain of what the future holds.” 

Shortly after, in February 2022, she announced she would be joining CNN as a political commentator while continuing her roles as Vice-Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Protection for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and as an honorary HBCU Executive Leadership Institute fellow at Clark Atlanta University. Bottoms called the role with CNN a full-circle moment. 

“I am thrilled to officially announce that I have joined CNN as a Political Commentator. As a @FAMU_1887 student, I applied for the coveted VJ program at CNN and didn’t get in. To now join the team nearly 30 years later is a reminder that a dream deferred is never a dream denied,” Bottoms wrote. 

Now Bottoms has a new post-mayoral position, this time as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement where she will serve as a senior adviser for the Biden administration. Bottoms will take over for Cedric L. Richmond, the former Congressional Rep. for Louisiana’s 2nd District who also served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus from 2017 to 2019. Richmond is one of Biden’s closest political allies and departed his role as director of White House Public Engagement in the spring to become a senior adviser at the DNC at the request of Biden. 

Bottoms spoke to reporters about her new role saying she plans to do “more listening than anything.” She will be responsible for engaging with communities across the nation and creating a dialogue between those communities and the White House about issues and policies that are most pertinent. 

“It’s important that people feel their voices are reflected and their voices are heard,” said Bottoms. 

Richmond and Bottoms were both some of Biden’s earliest supporters during his presidential campaign. Bottoms was also considered on a shortlist of candidates as a potential running mate for the President in 2020. 

Congratulations, Keisha! We are so proud!

Photo Courtesy of Anissa Baty/The New York Times