Cathy Woolard was born on May 10,1957 and is an American politician who served as a member of the Atlanta City Council for District 6 from November 1998 to 2002, and as President of the council from 2002 to 2004.
14 Facts About Cathy Woolard
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In 1979, Woolard graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Georgia, where she majored in psychology and minored in German.
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In 2003, Woolard completed Harvard University's John F Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow.
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In 1997, Cathy Woolard ran and was elected to Atlanta's City Council by the 6th district, upsetting a 20-year incumbent.
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Cathy Woolard chaired the city's Transportation Committee, and oversaw an expansion of the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which had just become the busiest airport in the world.
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In 2001, Cathy Woolard won a city-wide election for City Council President.
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Cathy Woolard made sustainability a priority, creating the city's first-ever energy policy which saved taxpayers more than $470,000, and she founded the "Dirty Dozen," a pilot program to fix the worst code violations in the city.
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In 2004, after serving two years of her term as city council president, Cathy Woolard entered the race to represent Georgia 4th district in United States House of Representatives, a seat that had been vacated by Denise Majette who had decided to run for the United States Senate seat.
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Cathy Woolard was defeated in the primary by the returning Cynthia McKinney, who then won in the general election.
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In 2008, Cathy Woolard was appointed as Executive Vice President of Global Advocacy and External Relations at CARE, an Atlanta-based non-profit.
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Cathy Woolard then worked as a professional advocate on behalf of Planned Parenthood and Georgia Equality, with whom she argued against a controversial "Religious Freedom" bill in Georgia that was eventually vetoed by Governor Nathan Deal.
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Cathy Woolard served as the interim director for AID Atlanta, an organization providing care for those suffering from HIV and AIDS.
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Cathy Woolard was a candidate in the 2017 Atlanta mayoral election, running on a platform of affordable housing and effective transportation.
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Cathy Woolard stepped down from the position in 2023, but returned to the role in April 2024 on an interim basis after her successor, Patrise Perkins-Hooker, was appointed as City Attorney for the City of Atlanta.