Tiffany Brown, a graduate of Spelman College ran a campaign for mayor of Atlanta, Georgia at the age of twenty-six (26). She is also an author and currently writing a book titled “Personal Reinvention: An African-American Survival Guide.”

Tiffany says she ran “solely for the people of Atlanta. As young people, we need to be part of the process.” Tiffany hoped to create a buzz and connect with Atlanta’s young adults, where the average age of citizens was 31 years old. Brown mounted a viable challenge to become mayor by raising monies, engaging a full campaign staff and opening a campaign office.

Ms. Brown wanted to focus on policy, after all she had been a policy analyst for the US Government Accountability Office and had earned a masters degree in public administration. Tiffany characterized the growth patterns of the area as “spotty, spread out and not well through out.”

Brown asked pivotal questions surrounding, Atlanta’s lack of a fine arts center and the void of other possible alternatives. She also discussed great concern surrounding the need of quality theatre and other amenities found in other large urban areas. Ms. Brown believes that the city should embrace its hip-hop moguls and pioneers, such as OutKast, T.I. and Jermaine Dupree, president of Island Records Urban Music. Some of the older guard might not want to recognize their significance or give young people an opportunity. If they won’t step aside, then we will have to move them aside, gently.” Brown, states.

Tiffany believes that if city leaders would forge a better relationship with some of the hip-hop artists with roots in Atlanta, there could be some synergy for them “to help steer major awards programs and their younger fans to their hometown.” She quickly noted the city’s lack of a cohesive transportation system and how it affected tourism and the ability to properly host major events. Citing an example, Brown exclaimed that the “NBA All-Star Weekend was an embarrassment to the citizens and the city of Atlanta.”

“Does Atlanta want to be a little New York or the largest city in the south? There should be a strip for cruising. We really don’t have that. All other major cities have one. Peachtree should be that strip. We want to have all of these sporting and entertainment events, but there is a no planning for such events.”

During her campaign Brown, had to deal with family problems associated with Hurricane Katrina and other personal issues, she finally decided to withdraw from the race, but she had made an impact and raised some very valid issues during her run, including Atlanta’s lack of adequate urban planning and economic development strategies.

Tiffany says, “The system is not set up for outside thinkers. And until there is a campaign reform, it will be difficult for young people to get into politics not only in Atlanta but also across the country. It never was phantom in anyone’s mind that I could be twenty-six (26) and decide to run for mayor. During the civil rights era, young people ran entire organizations. “

Ms. Brown’s book discusses, the three “P’s,” which she noted as the professional, psychological and physical. Tiffany wants to help young people through this process understand that “when you grow up, you begin to realize that life is not particularly going to be what you thought it was.

I just want to make sure that my little cousins who are twenty-two (22) and twenty-three (23) understand that everything does not turn out in life the way we plan. I don’t want to be cynical towards them. I want to provide them with tools to deal with problems. I want to help them understand work problems, office politics and especially racism.”

The road campaign had taken a toll as Ms. Brown got more involved in a new work out routine and improved her diet. Ms. Brown said, “I dealt with the physical first, because during the campaign, you are constantly on the road, under stress and not eating right. In addition to being on the road, I was working full-time. It’s a difficult process. I had gained a little weight, so I had to lose it and completely revitalize the way I work out, my diet and everything.”

Brown said, “I allowed myself to be frustrated and upset with issues going on. It does shake your faith a little, but I was able to persevere and move on.”

Professionally, she asked herself the question “What am I really good at and what do I really want to be?” She concluded that all she really ever wanted to do was help people and that you could achieve that as a public servant without being an elected official.