Ann Wead Kimbrough is Chief of Staff to Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones of DeKalb County Government. She was promoted to this position from
her successful service as Director of Communications, DeKalb County. DeKalb County is Georgia’s largest local government with nearly 700,000 citizens.
DeKalb’s Chief of Staff is the senior director of the CEO’s office. Responsibilities include managing the CEO’s schedule, community appointments to countywide boards of trustees and directors, and oversight of cable television operations, public affairs, community relations, Keep DeKalb Beautiful and the arts offices. Kimbrough also works alongside the county administrator. DeKalb County Government employs nearly 7,000 employees.
In addition to her management experience, Kimbrough has an extensive and award-winning background in financial journalism, special events management, journalism and public relations college instruction, crisis communications management and civic leadership. Her leadership and management career work has included the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, Atlanta Business Chronicle, WSB-TV, Atlanta Journal/Constitution and Fulton County Government. She has also written articles for many national publications including Essence, Black Enterprise, Business Week, New York Times, Time and Fortune. She has served as a journalism professor at Florida A&M University and Clark Atlanta University.
Her top awards have been bestowed upon her by several organizations including the Associated Press, Unity Awards in Media, Atlanta Association of Media Women, Atlanta Business League, Atlanta Labor Council, the Summerhill community, and the Century Club of Clark College.
She is a board member of the Center of Visually Impaired, American Red Cross (DeKalb District Advisory Board), Georgia Radio Reading Service, South DeKalb YMCA Board of Directors and Break thru House, Inc. She is a member of Leadership DeKalb, Leadership Atlanta, Clark Atlanta University Alumni Association, National Council of Negro Women, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists. In addition, she is an active mentor to college students and a volunteer in several civic organizations.
Kimbrough earned a Master of Science in Journalism degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications degree from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA).
She is the mother of three young adults, W. Earl, Jocelyn Cheryl and John Charles Kimbrough. They are members of the Word of Truth Christian Center, Decatur, GA.
