The Atlanta Housing Authority’s board of commissioners has elected a new temporary chairperson.
On Wednesday, board members unanimously voted for Tené Traylor to take over for Dr. Christopher R. Edwards, who submitted his resignation to Mayor Andre Dickens earlier this month.
Edwards resigned along with Vice Chair Kirk Rich; Commissioner Pat D. Dixon, Jr.; and Commissioner Robert Highsmith, Jr.
The remaining commissioners — Rosalind Elliott, Sheila Harris and Traylor — will continue in their positions.
Dickens appointed Duriya Farooqui, Doug Hooker, Sarah Kirsch and Larry Stewart to serve on the board for the next five years. Atlanta City Council unanimously ratified Farooqui, Kirsch and Stewart last week after the three publicly expressed their interest in the positions at the council’s Community Development/Human Services Committee this month.
Farooqui said she nominated Traylor for the chair role for the sake “continuity and governance.”
“The new board members are still going through the onboarding process and have not completed all of those meetings regarding governance and policies, so for the purposes of this meeting I would like to nominate Tené,” said Farooqui.
Farooqui said it will take another week for the new members to complete onboarding. In the meantime, Traylor is tasked with overseeing board businesses between now through June.
Last June, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms appointed Traylor to the Atlanta Housing board for the next five years. Traylor is an advisor at the Kendeda Fund, where she manages an Atlanta portfolio centered on investments for K-12 education and economic justice, according to her Atlanta Housing biography.
Traylor previously served at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Zeist Foundation, and the United Way of Greater Atlanta. She earned a Master of Public Administration from University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Georgia State University.
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