Decatur, GA — The Jan. 13 episode of the Decaturish Twitch Show will feature Clarkston Mayor Beverly H. Burks, the city’s first Black female mayor.

The episode was originally scheduled for Jan. 6, but has been postponed due to breaking news in Washington D.C. and elsewhere.

Burks will tell us her story, tell us more about Clarkston and there may be some discussion of the Senate runoffs if the results are known by 6 p.m. on Jan. 6. She works as Director of Community Engagement at Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority.

According to the biography on her campaign website, “Beverly Burks is a graduate of Alabama State University, where she received her B.S. Degree in Computer Information Systems. For more than 17 years, Beverly worked for several fortune 100 companies as a business consultant and technical manager.”

Her full biography appears at the end of this article.

The Decaturish Twitch show typically broadcasts at 6 p.m. every Wednesday. To watch the Jan. 6 episode click here.

Be sure to tune in to the show and if you want to ask questions, create an account and give us a follow on Twitch by clicking here. (To create an account, click the purple “sign up” button in the upper right-hand corner of the Twitch website.)

People interested in viewing past episodes should subscribe to the Decaturish Youtube channel. To see the Youtube channel, click here.

We’ll see you on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m.

Here is Burks’ full biography:

Beverly Burks is a graduate of Alabama State University, where she received her B.S. Degree in Computer Information Systems. For more than 17 years, Beverly worked for several fortune 100 companies as a business consultant and technical manager.

For over 10 years, Ms. Burks served as Executive Director of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, a collaborative council composed of historically African American Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. She worked with the affiliate organizations and their more than 2 million members to foster brotherhood and sisterhood in the pursuit to bring about social change through the development of social programs that would create positive change for Blacks and the country.

She currently works as the Director of Community Engagement at the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, the owner of the Grady Health System and the 5th largest safety net hospital in the United States.  She is responsible for partnerships, grant management, and programs.

She participated in the Community Health Leadership Program (CHLP) – The Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Beverly served as Vice Chairman of the Planning and Zoning board for the City of Clarkston.

Ms. Burks has been a member of various professional and community organizations including the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Coalition of One Hundred Black Women, National Association for the Advancement of Color People (NAACP), National Association of Female Executives, National Black Meeting Planners Association, Junior League of DeKalb County, and the Democratic Party. She served on various boards such as Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta and Sagal Radio. Beverly also participated in the recent class of Leadership DeKalb.

As a Council member, Ms. Burks sponsored the Clarkston Downtown Development Authority,  Safe Play Area Ordinance to protect our children with play areas at a safe distance from major streets, Election Day as a holiday, Pet Day Resolution to provide free vaccinations and microchips for our four-legged friends,  paid parental leave for city employees to make it easier for parents to establish a healthy bond with their children and Human Family Forest Mural next to Refuge Coffee.

Beverly strongly supported and voted for the Clean Indoor Air Act, decriminalization of marijuana possession, Dekalb County transfer of 40 Oaks Park back to the City, $15 minimum wage for city employees, Ban the Box Ordinance to eliminate obstacles of inequality that prevent full-time employment opportunities with the City and the creation of the Urban Redevelopment Agency for the improvement of Friendship Forest Sanctuary.

As a Community Advocate, she served as project coordinator for ClarkstonCOVID-19 Community Task Force and distributed nearly 10,000 masks to protect Clarkston’s vulnerable population and advocated tirelessly with  Former Councilman Mario Williams, Esq. for several years to get DeKalb County to agree to remove 11 years of astronomical erroneous charges from Tree Creek Townhomes water account that was caused by Dekalb Watershed installing two faulty water meters.

Furthermore, Beverly served as a connector so the Clarkston Police could receive equipment and resources to save the lives of our residents; co-founded Save Clarkston’s Neighborhood to bring awareness about massive development projects and changes to the City’s environment; and hosted Trunk or Treat for the past 3 years to provide a safe place for children to enjoy Halloween.

Ms. Burks attends Episcopal Church of the Epiphany. She is the mother of one daughter.

As Mayor of Clarkston, we will work together to develop an affordable housing solution; support our businesses that are financially suffering because of COVID-19; create transformational policing (community-centric); protect our environment; leverage partnerships and grants, and reduce health disparities and inequities that many of our residents face.

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