JOAN GARNER

GARNER JOAN P. GARNER Fulton County Commissioner Joan Garner, a long-time community activist and organizer before she was elected to the Fulton County Commission, died on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Her death from breast cancer occurred after a sudden decline, just days after her last participation in county commission meetings. She was 65. Garner was first elected to the Board of Commissioners in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 and 2016. Her tenure on the board marked a period of increasing cooperation and bipartisanship that some attribute to Garner's calm temperament and skill as a bridge builder. She was elected as Vice Chair by her peers in January 2017. Garner represented the residents of Fulton County District 4, which includes Midtown Atlanta and the neighborhoods west of downtown Atlanta. Like the district she represented, Garner was vibrant and embodied many of Fulton County's most progressive values. As she first became involved in politics in early 1990's, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson appointed Garner as one of his liaisons to the Gay and Lesbian Community. Mayor Jackson was the first Atlanta mayor to have such designated positions. Garner advocated for the cause of gay and lesbian equality at a time when such openness was rare, perhaps especially in the African American community. Garner's advocacy in this area of civil rights included service on the boards of Lambda Legal and the Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She was a co-convener of the African American Lesbian Gay Alliance and helped organize the first Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner in Atlanta. Garner lived in Atlanta's Historic Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, within the Martin Luther King Historic District, with her spouse, Fulton County State Court Judge Jane Morrison. Her involvement in the neighborhood spanned more than twenty years from 1995 to the present. Garner served first on the Board of Directors and later as Executive Director for the Historic District Development Corporation, a non-profit entity founded by Coretta Scott King that has been responsible for redevelopment of the residential neighborhood in the vicinity of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood home. At the time of her death, Garner served on the board of Sweet Auburn Works, Inc., a non-profit organization focused on restoring the commercial end of Auburn Avenue, the historic African American business district in Downtown Atlanta. During her service on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, she was known as "The Health Commissioner" and became the Board's Executive Sponsor of its "All People Are Healthy" priority area. This fit well with Garner's long commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS which had been a social justice concern of hers for decades as she fought as an advocate for gay and lesbian civil rights. She co-founded the Fulton County Task Force on HIV/AIDS, among numerous health initiatives. Her personal experience after her own diagnosis with cancer informed her advocacy for and commitment to health care equality. Prior to her work on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Garner was widely known for her volunteer work in the non-profit sector and for her community leadership. She served on numerous community and nonprofit boards, including the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, Atlanta-Fulton County Library Board, Caring Works, and the Atlanta Beltline Affordable Housing board. In the field of philanthropy she is a co-author Robin Hood was Right, published in 2000, and served on the board of the National Council on Foundations. She previously worked as Executive Director of the Fund for Southern Communities which fosters social change in the Southeast, and Southern Partners Fund a community-based public foundation committed to equal rights, and as Co-Director of National Network of Grantmakers. She is a founder of Southerners On New Ground. As a county commissioner, Garner also served actively on a statewide and national level. At the time of her death she was Third Vice President of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and very actively engaged with the National Association of Counties. Joan P. Garner was born in 1951 in Washington DC, to Annie Childs and Morris "Tank" Garner. She attended Anacostia High School and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from the University of the District of Columbia and a Master's Degree in Organizational Communication from Howard University. She made Atlanta her home in 1978. She is survived by her spouse, Judge Morrison, and other family mostly residing in the DC area, including three brothers, Damon (wife Stacey), Tony and Keith; two sisters, Jean and Janet; multiple nieces, nephews, and cousins, as well as beloved friends and colleagues in Atlanta and across the country. A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, May 6, 2017, at 3 p.m., at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 101 Jackson Street (on auburn Avenue, downtown Atlanta). Memorial gifts to the following entities are appreciated: Joan P. Garner Health & Human Services Internship Program, c/o ACCG, 191 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 700, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 or Georgia Equality Foundation, 1530 Dekalb Avenue, Suite A, Atlanta, Georgia 30307.Georgia 30307.