#174 Dr. Bambi Hayes-Brown, Georgia ACT

There are many metrics for effective leadership touted by the corporate and nonprofit sectors, but I doubt that lived experience is among them. It is just one of many strengths that Dr. Bambie Hayes-Brown brings to her leadership of Georgia Advancing Communities Together (Georgia Act), a statewide association that advocates for safe housing and vibrant neighborhoods for all. The mission is critical in a state where 333,000 residents are very low-income, 72% pay more than 50% of their income on rent and utilities, and in rural communities, tarps often stand in for roofs. It matters that Dr. Hayes-Brown earned multiple degrees while homeless and a mother of three. She is also a licensed real estate broker and has managed residential properties, which deepens her conviction to make the industry more people centered. And she is an engaged member of the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Board of Directors. Even the aggression of white nationalists could not deter the caravan she led through rural counties to talk to Georgians about voting, the Census and their homes. This is how change is made.