BOC 1: Jae S. Brown

Jae S. Brown is senior consultant of VYD and Associates, as well as CEO of Vekter Management, LLC. As Emergency Response Coordinator with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he wrote a national emergency response plan enacted by a Presidential Order and ran emergency operations fo more than 300 hospitals nationwide. Brown also headed Emergency Management at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, led a state-wide biosafety committee that set policies for over 100 Georgia hospitals, and has served on the founding board of the Harriet Tubman School of Science and Technology, the Auditory Verbal Center, the United Way of Atlanta’s African American Partnership Board, and the Urban League Young Professionals of Greater Atlanta.

What makes you the best candidate for this particular district?

Before Commissioner Singleton-Gregory passed she reached out to me. She expressed her desire to mentor me and help me get ready to be an elected official in our county. From that moment on we started to develop a mentor mentee relationship. She expressed her thoughts on bringing new voices into the political fold. Proven leaders who have always supported the community in the background. She appreciated the work I have done to assure Clayton county charities and organizations receive funding from groups such as the United Way and Urban League. She appreciated my work with the youth, my business acumen and my devotion to the county that changed my life. For years I have worked with leaders from the government, nonprofit and business sector to improve our community, county, state, and nation. Occasionally I have been recognized by organizations such as the United Way, Georgia Trend Magazine, AJC and others. But for the most part, I did the work outside of the spotlight, brining people together for a common purpose. I have the experience of working with White House officials, CEOs of billion-dollar firms and the 5th grader of a charter school. I will walk into the office ready to serve and ready to command the respect of anyone.

What do you see as the strengths of your district?

Diversity of residents, Ft. Gillem Logistics Center, plenty of opportunity for ambitious citizens to start a business in an affordable area looking to have more services, affordable home ownership

How do you handle conflict/people who disagree with you?

I always seek to understand their position and why. There may be a solution that is unknown because we didn’t try to fully understand the other person. There is a story of two siblings who wanted the last orange in the house. The mother came down stairs and simply cut the orange in half and each child was still disappointed. If she had asked she would have learned one child wanted the orange to eat and the other wanted the orange peeling for a project. Seek first to understand, then to be understood!

What one project would you like to accomplish in the next 4 years if elected?

Set up a countywide free wi-fi platform. This will help close the technology gap, allow kids to access the internet, make us more attractive for businesses because it helps them reduce expenses, allows our residents to work on-line from home and give a free platform for our residents to start on-line businesses.

Anything else people should know about you?

I have lived the Clayton County dream. I have graduated from Morrow High School, went to the army, an ivy league college, am currently raising a family and have been able to start a successful business. I know this is not the experience for all residents of this county. I am running to make my experience the norm, not the exception.