Q: What is your job description and title?

A: My title is Director of Community and Economic Development. My team is responsible for business development and attracting new business investment and jobs to the state as well as providing support to local communities in preparation for economic growth through leadership development, strategic planning, industry expansion, retention and recruitment.

Q: How do you use what you learned in your major in performing your job?

A: I majored in English at Spelman, and that has benefitted me well. I learned and developed critical thinking and creative thinking skills, which I continued to hone during law school. I also learned communication skills- how to read/process then summarize, compare/distinguish, analyze and explain- these are skills that are helpful in literally every career field.

Q: Do you use technology such as computers, PDAs, cell phones, etc. in your day-to-day work? If so, what applications/programs do you use? How do computers make your job easier? If not, do you see a way that technology could be useful? Are there any tasks that you perform that you would be interested in automating or giving to a computer to do?

A: Yes. Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox, Zoom, DocuSign. Computers are a critical link in the chain of communication between employees, especially now, when so many are working in a hybrid home/office structure. Most of my tasks that can be computer-based are already computer-based.

Q: What do you think the industry will be like for me in four years? Will technology play a

larger role than it does today? In what way?

A: Technology will be in the forefront even more than it is now, which is hard to imagine. Metaverse/virtual reality will be even more feasible/commonplace. The downside, as the new digital environment relates to work, is it will be even harder to unplug from it all for self-care, vacations, etc. That said, it’s an exciting time with a wide range of possibilities and improvements on the horizon.