Andre Dickens Bio
Andre Peter Dickens (born June 17, 1974) is an American politician serving as the 61st mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the city at-large on the Atlanta City Council, where he chaired the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee and sponsored a measure that established a $15 minimum wage for city employees.
Beyond elected office, Dickens works as the chief development officer of TechBridge, a nonprofit that provides technology services and business expertise to other nonprofit organizations in underserved communities. He has built his public career around affordable housing, public safety reform, workforce development, and expanding opportunity for Atlanta families.
Early Life and Background
Andre Peter Dickens was born in 1974 in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in the southwestern part of the city. He was raised primarily by his mother, Sylvia Dickens, and his stepfather, who adopted Andre and his two siblings when Andre was seven years old. His stepfather introduced him to the practice of taking machines apart and rebuilding them, an experience that helped spark Dickens’s lifelong interest in engineering and problem solving.
He attended Benjamin Elijah Mays High School in Atlanta, where he completed his secondary education before moving on to college-level study. The values he absorbed in his neighborhood and at home shaped a strong sense of civic responsibility that later guided his decision to enter public service.
Dickens went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998. He later completed a Master of Public Administration in Economic Development at Georgia State University, giving him both a technical foundation and a formal grounding in public policy.
Path to US Politics
Before entering politics, Dickens built a career in engineering and business. While still enrolled at Georgia Tech, he began working in 1994 as a part-time chemical engineer for BP-Amoco, and the role became full-time right after he completed his degree. In 1999, he moved to DSM Engineering and Plastics as a sales engineer, where he was recognized as the company’s first Black salesperson of the year.
At age 28, Dickens and his older sister co-founded City-Living Home Furnishing, a home furnishings company that operated from 2002 to 2011. The business grew into a multi-million-dollar enterprise with two locations before the housing crisis forced its closure, leading Dickens to file for Chapter Seven bankruptcy in 2010.
Those experiences pushed him toward public service. In 2013, he was elected to the Atlanta City Council as an at-large member. During his two terms on the council, he championed public safety improvements, affordable housing, youth programs, and workforce development, while sponsoring legislation that raised the minimum wage for city employees to fifteen dollars an hour.
Andre Dickens Career
Early Career (2013–2021)
Dickens’s first major political role came in 2013, when Atlanta voters elected him to serve as an at-large member of the city council. Over the next eight years, he developed a reputation for working on issues that affected working families, public safety, and the city’s long-term housing needs.
While chairing the council’s Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee, Dickens helped create the Atlanta Department of Transportation, the BeltLine Inclusionary Zoning policy to expand affordable housing, and the Atlanta Youth Commission. He also sponsored the measure that set a $15 minimum wage for city employees, one of the signature achievements of his council tenure.
2021 Mayoral Breakthrough
In 2021, after two terms on the city council, Dickens launched a campaign for mayor of Atlanta. He captured roughly 23 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan general election, edging out former mayor Kasim Reed for the second spot in the runoff race and finishing behind city council president Felicia Moore.
Dickens then won the November 2021 runoff against Moore by a wide margin, earning the right to lead the city. The victory made him the 61st mayor of Atlanta and gave him a mandate to pursue his priorities in housing, public safety, and economic development.
Mayor of Atlanta Era (2022–Present)
Dickens was sworn in as mayor of Atlanta in early 2022 and quickly moved on several priorities. On February 25, 2022, he lifted the city’s indoor COVID-19 mask mandate, ending a nearly two-year restriction on restaurants, hotels, and other venues. In October 2022, he appointed Darin Schierbaum as the 26th chief of the Atlanta Police Department.
During his first year in office, his administration committed more than $100 million to new and updated affordable housing, the largest single-housing investment in Atlanta’s history. Early accomplishments also included the city’s first-ever investment in early childhood education and the creation of a Nightlife Division to address establishments with a history of violent crime. His administration set aside more than $13 million to combat homelessness through the LIFT 2.0 plan, with a goal of 1,500 housing placements for families by the end of 2024.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Dickens’s most high-profile decisions has been his support for funding the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a controversial police and fire training facility known as “Cop City.” In 2023, he faced intense criticism, including calls for his resignation from more than 1,300 climate, justice, and community groups, after a police killing of an activist at the site. In February 2023, he also struck a deal with the Integral Group to sell 81 acres of land for the development of affordable housing units.
Andre Dickens Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Dickens was raised by his mother, Sylvia Dickens, and a stepfather who adopted him and his two siblings. He grew up in Southwest Atlanta, and the family spent time together rebuilding mechanical devices, an experience that helped shape his interest in engineering and his later public service career.
He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, having pledged while attending the Georgia Institute of Technology, and serves on boards including the Georgia Tech Alumni Board, Leadership Atlanta, and the Regional Leadership Institute. Dickens lives in the Historic Collier Heights neighborhood in northwest Atlanta with his daughter, Bailey, and attends New Horizon Baptist Church near his home.