Doug Shipman was elected president of the Atlanta City Council in November 2021. 

Council President Shipman comes to public office after a long history of demonstrated leadership in Atlanta for Atlantans. He believes that a prosperous Atlanta is a place that invests in relationships before a crisis happens and that Atlanta can be a national model for the expansive growth in diversity that America is experiencing.

Shipman is highly noted as a coalition builder and an ambassador with the talent to bring people together to solve problems with commonsense solutions. He has found ways to engage communities to bring incredible ideas to reality. His work has been recognized by many civic, civil-rights, and human-rights organizations, including the Atlanta Business League, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Atlanta Urban League, the Junior League of Greater Atlanta, and the Buckhead Rotary Club. He has also been recognized numerous years as one of Atlanta’s Most Influential Leaders by Atlanta magazine, Georgia Trend magazine, and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Doug has a track record for civic engagement and community service. His civic appointments have included Cyclorama task force and the Xernona Clayton street renaming commission. Shipman has served as a board member for several nonprofit organizations including Easter Seals of North Georgia, The Carter Center, Midtown Alliance, the Metro Chamber of Commerce, Advisory Council of the Islamic Speakers Bureau, Honorary Board of the Anti-Defamation League (SE Chapter), and the Out of Hand Theatre.

Doug Shipman joins the City Council after serving three years as the CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center. There, Shipman focused on diversifying offerings and patrons and improving fiscal and operational management of the third-largest arts center in the United States. Under Doug’s leadership, the Woodruff Arts Center embraced and featured artists of all backgrounds enabling them with equal access to, and the ability to prosper in the ever-growing Georgia arts industry.

Prior to the Woodruff, Shipman served eight years as the founding CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Before being named its CEO, Shipman led the Center’s $100 million fundraising campaign, and he also led the efforts to design, build, and launch the Center successfully. He also supported the effort to secure and pay for the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Collection at Morehouse College.

Council President Shipman has served as a speaker and consultant to some of Atlanta’s most transformative companies. He was a principal at the Boston Consulting Group and was CEO of BCG BrightHouse consulting. Under his leadership, the firms created jobs, expanded offices and clients nationally and internationally, paving the way for their clients to be instrumental in infrastructure and strategic planning for their respective communities.

A magna cum laude graduate from Emory University in Atlanta, Shipman also holds a Master of Theological Studies Degree from the Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Public Policy Degree from the Harvard Kennedy School. 

Shipman is a long-time resident of the historic Old Fourth Ward, and enjoys spending quality family time—especially cooking—with his wife and their two young daughters.