Meet Atlanta’s Mayor-Elect: Andre Dickens

Andre Dickens won the mayoral race in Atlanta with 64% of the votes. Dickens won on a campaign that promised to address the concerns over the rising crime rates and to be overall more effective than his counterpart, Monroe.

In his victory speech, Dickens spoke about the inequity problems plaguing Atlanta. “The city is facing multigenerational poverty. We’re facing the highest income inequality in the nation. And yes, we are fighting a crime spike right now in this city.”

Atlanta is facing serious income inequality. For someone born into poverty in Atlanta, they only have a 4 percent chance of breaking that cycle. The median income for Black households is only one third of the median income for white households. 

So who is Andre Dickens?

Andre Dickens studied chemical engineering at Georgia Tech. He was an engineer for over a decade. He also received a master’s of public administration degree in Economic Development from Georgia State University.

Dickens has also worked on establishing the BeltLine Inclusionary Zoning with the Department of Transportation. This Zoning was designed to keep rent affordable near the trails. While chairman of the Public Safety Committee, he says he saw “homicides went down 33% and all violent crimes decreased 12%.”

He also was the Chief Development Officer for TechBridge, a nonprofit that drives community impact by bringing affordable technology and business expertise to other nonprofit organizations. He co-founded the Technology Career Program, a free program designed to prepare unemployed and individuals experiencing disadvantage in the work field for a career in the growing technology job market. 

With his track record, it seems like Andre Dickens is ready to bring progress and work towards equity for Atlanta.