City Council names Tywana Minor chair of Social Justice Race & Equity Commission

Brookhaven, GA, Aug. 31, 2021 – The Mayor and City Council of Brookhaven have announced the appointment of Ms. Tywana Minor, to assume the role of Chair of the Brookhaven Social Justice, Race & Equity Commission (SJREC).  Minor has been a member of the SJREC since its inception in December of 2020.  John J. Funny, the outgoing SJREC Chair, and CEO of Grice Consulting, qualified last week as a candidate for the Brookhaven City Council, District #4.  The City Charter prohibits candidates for elective office from simultaneous appointed service on a city commission or authority.  Funny resigned as Chair of the SJREC after qualifying for office.

"We want to thank and commend John Funny for his contributions and leadership in forming and organizing our SJREC.  Following the summer of racial justice protests, the Brookhaven City Council established a Brookhaven Police Department Transparency Initiative, and after that we created the SJREC.  It remains our goal to make our community into one of the most welcoming and equitable cities in all of Georgia.  John has us in good stead for the hand-off to Twyana Minor,” said Mayor John Ernst.

With Minor’s appointment, Commissioner Danita V. Knight remains as Vice Chair of the SJREC and would fill the role of chair in the event Minor was unavailable.

The SJREC has public meetings each month (schedule can be found here - https://www.brookhavenga.gov/sjrec).  In-person meetings resumed in August, following months of online and Zoom meetings, caused by the pandemic.   The SJREC also has four operating committees, working on areas of focus, all towards a summary of recommendations and report to be made back to the Brookhaven City Council in December of 2021.  Those committees and their work continue in the following areas:  Vision and Mission; Hiring and Retention (of city employees and contractors); Procurement and Contracting (of city vendors and contractors for services and products); and Policing and the Continuum Use of Force.

Minor brings a wealth of leadership and experience from the corporate and nonprofit sector to her new role, most recently as the Senior Director, Global HR Business Partners with Habitat for Humanity International, in Atlanta.

Minor is an active member of SHRM-Atlanta and serves on the Diversity taskforce of the National chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  In 2020, she served a 2nd term as President of SHRM-Atlanta. Ms. Minor is also a current board member of the Atlanta Center for Self-Sufficiency and BCM.

"We are continually blessed as a community, to have citizens of our community stepping up as volunteers and doing the hard work of building a strong, resilient and equitable community.  Tywana has already been a strong and active member of the SJREC, we look forward to watching her assume and grow into this larger role," said Councilmember Madeleine Simmons.

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About the Brookhaven SJREC:  The Brookhaven Social Justice, Race & Equity Commission is an all-volunteer, citizen-led advisory body, compiling data and recommendations back to the Brookhaven City Council, on the current status of equity and social justice within the City of Brookhaven, and what changes/improvements or considerations might be made going forward to make the community more welcoming to everyone.  The commission is very diverse, representing most every demographic, race, culture and ethnicity with a presence in Brookhaven.  The more than three dozen members meet monthly as a group, in smaller committees and sub-committees, and most recently have been hosting Civic Dinners, seeking further input from members of the general public.  A final report and summary of recommendations is expected back to the Brookhaven City Council in December of 2021.