Georgia State University College of Law professor and entertainment lawyer Mo Ivory has announced she is running for the District 4 seat on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, challenging incumbent Natalie Hall.
Atlanta has been home to Ivory for over 30 years and, in that time, she said she’s seen the growth that the city has experienced, but also the pain it has endured. She’s running on a platform that hopes to highlight issues such as homelessness, affordable housing, taxes, election integrity, public safety, health and human services and criminal justice reform.
“I’m proud of my community. I’ve always been politically involved, and I feel like it’s a great time for me to serve. It’s a time for leaders like myself to be there for all of the issues that I think are important,” Ivory said.
“As a parent, as a wife, all of these issues are things that we face all the time and things that I care about,” she said. “I believe as an elected official, to sit on the Fulton County Commission, I could really have an impact there.”
Besides a city council run in 2017 for the District 1 seat, Ivory’s political involvement has been out of the spotlight and more on the ground. She’s worked behind the scenes for various political campaigns and has been a vocal advocate for voting rights in the community. Her first foray into working on political campaigns came when she worked to increase voter turnout during former United States President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. She raised funds to rent a charter bus for a week called Mo’s Voting Party Bus which took 12,000 students to vote.
“I’ve learned that both campaigning and serving is hard work. And it’s about the work,” Ivory said. “I try to make things happen. I tried to say, ‘Think big,’ and then actually execute on those visions. And I think most people would say that about me … when I have a big idea, I usually can make it happen.”
Since 2008, she’s worked behind the scenes for various political campaigns, but her career hasn’t just stayed in the sphere of politics. Ivory’s experience as a professor and entertainment lawyer has influenced her presence in the Atlanta community from hosting radio shows such as V-103 and WAOK in Atlanta and providing commentary on major TV networks about legal cases to serving on many boards and volunteering. She currently teaches a class at Georgia State that examines topics such as business and legal issues related to the Olympic experience and made news in January after surprising her students with a trip to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
In a video announcing her candidacy, Ivory promised she wasn’t an “ordinary” candidate. What makes her extraordinary? Her service in the community outside of politics, she said.
“I’m not an ordinary candidate because of all the experiences that I’ve had in my life,” said Ivory.
“I’ve had an opportunity to work in many industries and, because of that, I’ve been able to create great relationships that allowed me also to serve,” Ivory said. “I’m not running for office to gain the spotlight. I don’t need to run for that … that’s why I think I come to this in a very different way.”
For Ivory, Atlanta is where she made her mark at Spelman College, got married and raised her six children and practiced the bulk of her legal career. Now, she’s hoping voters allow her to carry that journey to the District 4 Fulton County Commission seat.
“I’ve grown with the county. I’ve grown with the city. I came to Atlanta as a very young woman, and I’ve grown into the business and my personal family life right in the same place in Grant Park. … I just hope that I can earn voter support by my record and by what I know I can bring to the table which I believe is leadership with integrity.”