State of the County Address

Nicole Love Hendrickson was elected chairwoman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners in 2020 and reelected in 2024, making her the first African American to hold this position in Georgia’s second-most populous and most diverse county. As the Commission Chair, she leads the Board in setting the direction and formulating policies for Gwinnett County Government, overseeing the creation and adoption of a more than 2.67-billion-dollar budget, ensuring Gwinnett’s superior services for its nearly one million residents.

Since taking office, Chairwoman Hendrickson has led efforts to build a stronger, more inclusive Gwinnett by prioritizing transportation and enhancing mobility for all through the creation of a new transit development plan; advancing housing affordability through the creation of the affordable housing development fund; restoring and reinvigorating a thriving economy that delivers economic security for small and minority businesses; and directly engaging with residents to make local government more responsive, transparent, and accountable.

Chairwoman Hendrickson is active on a number of local, regional, statewide, and national boards, including the Atlanta Regional Commission, Metropolitan North Georgia Water District Board, Gwinnett Board of Health, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau. She serves on the Association County Commissioners of Georgia Policy Steering Committee and in her role with the ARC chaired the Local Leaders Housing Action Committee, a group charged with developing a regional plan to address the region’s housing affordability challenges. Chairwoman Hendrickson also serves in leadership roles with the National Association of Counties as vice-chair of the Large Urban County Caucus and vice-chair of the workforce development subcommittee of the Community, Economic and Workforce Development Committee.

She has refined her approach to leadership by completing Leadership Gwinnett and the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute, among other leadership development programs.

As a purpose-driven leader, Chairwoman Hendrickson has been recognized among Engineering Georgia’s 100 Most Influential Women in Georgia, the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 100 Most Influential Atlantans, and Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential Georgians. She received Congressman Hank Johnson’s Trailblazer Award, Gwinnett Chamber’s Public Service Award, and was recently recognized by the Gwinnett Bar Association with the Liberty Bell Award.

Chairwoman Hendrickson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Georgia. She is also a proud, newly inducted member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, an organization committed to sisterhood, scholarship, service, and social action.

She resides in unincorporated Lilburn with her husband, Keverne, and their son, Kaden.