The City of Avondale Estates has welcomed a new face to the senior leadership team with the addition of Shannon Powell as Assistant City Manager – Community and Economic Development. In this role, she is responsible for planning, permitting, public works, parks, and communications.
A resident of Decatur with her husband and two teenage children, Powell is a graduate of the Masters Program of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech and has experience in city planning, economic development and urban design. Previously, she was President and Principal of City3Sixty and the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Midtown Alliance.
As part of the Midtown Alliance leadership team, she played an integral part in developing the vision and strategic direction for the organization. One of her most notable accomplishments is the development and implementation of the award-winning Blueprint Midtown, a community-based master plan for Midtown Atlanta. To implement the plan, she and her team developed and executed new initiatives for streetscapes, open spaces, land use and transportation that have become models for urban revitalization. In 2016, she was awarded the Kwanza Hall Award by AIA-Atlanta for her role as an advocate for good urban design.
City Manager Patrick Bryant said, “It is this experience that aligns so closely with where Avondale Estates is headed over the next decade, and I know she is looking forward to being a part of this new and exciting chapter.”
Many residents and business owners have already met Powell at various meetings, open houses, and workshops, as she has been managing providing strategic direction for many of the projects currently underway. She said she is excited about jumping into these projects and working with staff, the leadership team, and others.
“This is a time of change in the development for the City of Avondale Estates and I look forward to helping shape that direction,” she said. “What excites me most is working with a diverse group of professionals from the communications guru to the landscape architect and seeing how it all comes together. I am looking forward to working with a dynamic leadership team, committed staff, and a passionate community to build a better Avondale Estates and better downtown with you.
“Very few people in the world get a chance to design a park; even fewer have the opportunity to shape an entire City. I feel incredibly honored and fortunate to bring my passion and expertise to do just that here in Avondale Estates.”