Former Georgia state legislator Stephanie Stuckey Benfield is Atlanta’s first Chief Resilience Officer. Her appointment was announced today by Mayor Kasim Reed during a gathering at City Hall.
A news release from the city indicates that the new position was created “to lead city-wide resilience building efforts to help the City of Atlanta prepare for, withstand, and bounce back from the ‘shocks’ – catastrophic events like hurricanes, fires, and floods – and ‘stresses’ – slow-moving disasters like water shortages, homelessness, and unemployment, which are increasingly part of 21st century life. As Chief Resilience Officer, Benfield will oversee the development and implementation of a comprehensive Resilience Strategy for the city.”
According to Mayor Reed, “Stephanie Stuckey Benfield is uniquely positioned and qualified to serve as our Chief Resilience Officer and I am confident that she is best person to establish a resilience vision and plan for our City,” said Mayor Reed. “Since joining the City, Stephanie has lead and implemented programs and initiatives which have elevated the City of Atlanta as a global leader in sustainability. Stephanie was also instrumental in securing our position as a 100 Resilient Cities member. Under her leadership and engagement with stakeholders, experts and 100 RC staff, the City of Atlanta is poised to take the next step in its resilience planning.”
Stuckey Benfield says, “Cities are where resilience is put into action. Thanks to Mayor Reed’s leadership, Atlanta is broadening our efforts beyond sustainability to tackle the physical, social, and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century.” Stuckey Benfield also says, “As Chief Resilience Officer, I’ll be working to unite people, projects, and priorities to drive action on the critical stresses and shocks our City faces, such as aging infrastructure, economic opportunity, food scarcity and transportation. I’m excited about this new opportunity and am ready to get to work.”