Sen. Sonya Halpern
SD 39
“It is said that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But when it comes to one’s life, I don’t agree with that….The path to your destiny and success in life is more often circuitous, winding, with setbacks and plenty of self-doubt. Life rarely goes in a straight line, and we must be ready and able to change direction or reimagine our roadmap at any time. Embracing uncertainty and being agile are two of the most powerful skills you can have.” – Sen. Sonya Halpern during her Commencement Address for Savannah State University
Sonya Halpern is a first-generation Georgian who has lived in the 39th District for nearly 25 years. Since the day she moved to Georgia, Sonya has committed herself to the community that she chose to call home.
Sonya’s belief in the principles of equity and access have guided her as she has worked to build a brighter future for the people she represents. The 39th is one of the most socio-economically diverse districts in the state. Entirely within Fulton County, the district includes neighborhoods in portions of Atlanta, South Fulton, College Park, East Point and Union City.
Sonya grew up in a home where both parents graduated from an HBCU – Tougaloo College in Mississippi. Her mother worked at a company helping people with disabilities and father had a 30+ year career at IBM after leaving the U.S. Air Force. Sonya worked summers at both places while pursuing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Massachusetts before continuing on to the University of Hartford for her MBA.
After graduating in the middle of a recession which made it impossible to find a job, she moved into her local chapter of the YWCA in White Plains and started doing temp jobs throughout nearby New York City. It was this experience which taught her how important it is to create a strong community where everyone can receive the support they need to build a good life for themselves and their families. She spent nearly a decade in New York, culminating in a job with ESPN where she helped launch their first digital advertising efforts.
A full-time job with Cox Enterprises brought her to Atlanta where she married her husband, Daniel Halpern, and had three beautiful children. During more than two decades of community service work, she has observed firsthand every challenge facing the 39th district, including a strained public education system, rising healthcare costs, lack of affordable housing, and the need for criminal justice reform. These challenges can’t be solved by community service alone – they must be addressed by elected officials.
Sonya is a fierce advocate for the equity and opportunity every citizen deserves. Faced with a crumbling social safety net and almost no opportunities for economic mobility, very few people are truly free to achieve their full potential. Sonya vows to continue to fight to change that.
Since her election in 2020, she serves as Chair of the Senate Study Committee on Excellence, Innovation and Technology at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) and as Vice Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, the Urban Affairs Committee, the Fulton County Delegation, and the City of Atlanta Delegation. She is Co-Chair for the General Assembly Working Group on Addiction and Recovery as well as holding membership in the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, the Women’s Legislative Caucus, the Working Families Caucus, and the Georgia-Israel Legislative Caucus.
Before her election, President Barak Obama appointed her the first African-American and first Georgian to Chair the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts at the Kennedy Center. She is a former board chair for The Children’s School and the National Black Arts Festival and served as a former vice chair for WABE/Public Broadcasting Atlanta. She was a founding Co-Chair of Atlanta’s Electing Women Alliance and a founding member of the Atlanta School for the Arts Foundation. Democratic National Committee activities include membership of the Women’s Leadership Forum and the African American Leadership Council. She served on executive Committees for the YMCA of Metro Atlanta and South Arts.
Her many honors for community service include YMCA’s 2019 Volunteer of the Year, being named one of the Top 100 Black Women of Influence” by the Atlanta Business League, being named a “Woman of Achievement” by the YWCA of Greater Atlanta, the “Sandra Anderson Bacchus Legacy Award” from the National Black Arts Festival and the Nikki T Randall Servant Leadership Award from the GA Legislative Women’s Caucus.
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