AME Voter Alert Features Sinkfield

AME VOTER  ALERT!!

The AME Voter-Alert:  The global AME Church is committed to and has a long history of collaborating with its local churches and other organizations to keep the AME membership and the general public informed of the issues that impact the communities that the churches serve.  Through the AME Voter-Alert program, the AME Church helps to empower the voting public by educating it on the leadership, opportunities, concerns, initiatives, proposals and other dynamics that affect the lives of the people.  Thus, the AME Voter-Alert’s mission is to INSPIRE and ENCOURAGE and CREATE a sense of URGENCY for a strong voter turnout in the states, cities, town, communities and neighborhoods where the churches are planted for ministry

Another progeny (a daughter) of Richard and Sarah Allen answers to “Call to Public Service”….

We are now called to be good stewards of our Right to Vote…..

Who is she?  She is one who has been in the ”Ministry of Public Service” as a State Representative for almost 30 years and now seeks to   serve as the Secretary of State in the state of Georgia.

  She is Georganna Sinkfield – www.sinkfield2010.com

Election Day is Tuesday, July 20, 2010

This AME Voter-Alert focuses on an AME Church member, the Honorable Georganna Sinkfield, who has served as a State Representative in the Georgia General Assembly for nearly 30 years, and now seeks to be the Secretary of State for Georgia.

All Georgians are strongly encouraged to go to the polls on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 (or vote early) and cast your vote for your next Secretary of State, Governor and other leaders.  Please do not miss this opportunity to choose the leaders who represent you and will decide the issues that affect your daily lives.  Your vote will make a difference.

Because of her connectedness to the AME family, we have been able to access valuable information about the Honorable Georganna Sinkfield.  

See her AME Connection:  Sinkfield is a lifelong and active member of the AME Church.

•        Sinkfield’s late father, E.L. Thomas, her late grandfather, Vandy Thomas, and her late uncles built the St. Paul AME Church in Cades, South Carolina.

•        Longtime and active member at St. Paul AME in Atlanta, Georgia, under the pastorates of the late Presiding Elder Rev. L.J. Jones, the late Rev. D.H. Jackson, Bishop Preston Williams, Rev. Thomas Bess

•        Has served for decades through many roles—including president of St. Paul's Women’s Missionary Society; president of the Music and Dramatic Guild, which also honors fathers on Father’s Day; choir member; leader in many church capital fundraising initiatives; and leader and supporter of the church school, YPD, women’s day ministry services and conferences, vacation Bible school, and the Young Matrons

•        Her leadership and work have benefited Georgians in myriad ways, including families, senior citizens, working people/tax payers, youth, home owners and tenants, teachers and students, school districts, veterans, people with medical and healthcare insurance needs, and victims of predatory lending

•        Supported by many Georgia AME Leaders, including Bishop William P. DeVeaux, retired Bishop Henry A. Belin, Jr., Rev. Thomas Bess, Rev. Lemora Dobbs, Rev. Shawn Drains, Rev. Gregory Eason, Rev. Michael Ephraim, Rev. Tracey Fletcher, Rev. Toni Belin Ingram, Rev. Larry Jones, Rev. Monica Jones, Rev. Charles Louis, Rev. George Moore, Rev. George Moore, Jr., Rev. Mark Pierson, Rev. Stafford Wicker, Rev. Connie Wicker, and many other lay leaders across the Connection

Education: Earned a B.S. (Biology), Tennessee State University; Attended Emory University School of Law

Political Leadership Experience: As a State Representative for 28 years, Sinkfield is the longest serving woman in the history of the Georgia General Assembly.

•        Chair, Committee on Children and Youth for 14 years

•        Chair, House Subcommittee of Appropriations on Human Development (second largest budget in the state of GA and had responsibility to oversee the budgets of the departments of Human Resources, Juvenile Justice, Veterans Affairs, Medicaid and Medicare, and the Department of Labor)

•        Helped to Write the Nation's Toughest Law Against Predatory Lending

•        Authored Legislation Creating the Office of the Child Advocate

•        Has Had a Legislative Focus on Programs for Marginalized Students

•        Elected First Woman Chair of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus

•        Now serves on Children and Youth, Insurance and Banks and Banking Committees

Served on the Education Review Commission, which laid the groundwork  for the Quality Basic Education Act

•        The State Chapter 2 Advisory Committee
•        The State Task Force on Homelessness
•        The State Task Force Turning Points, Preparing Our Youth for the 21st Century
•        Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
•        Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Court System
•        Department of Education's Task Force on Violence and the Schools
•        Governor's State Policy Council for Children and Families
•        Georgia General Assembly's Conference on Health Care Reform/Managed Health Care

Civic Recognition:  Sinkfield has received numerous awards and accolades, including 

•        Named as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Georgia from Georgia Trend
•        Drum Major for Justice Award from the SCLC
•        Hall of Fame Award Lobbying Network from the NAACP
•        Advocacy Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Georgia General Assembly from the American Jewish Committee of Atlanta
•        Awards from AARP, Public Health Nurses of Georgia and Others
•        Vision Action Award from GCAPP
•        Pinnacle of Leadership Award from the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
•        Trumpet Award from Trumpet Awards Foundation
•        Academy of Women Achievers of the YWCA
•        Champion Award from Georgians for Children
•        Outstanding Achievement Award from the Georgia Department of Labor

As the Secretary of State for Georgia:  Based on her legacy of dedicated service and successful record of trusted and experience leadership that provides meaningful improvements for Georgians, Sinkfield seeks to continue to serve the people of Georgia with integrity and excellence in a greater capacity and promises to

•        Protect the Voting Rights of All Georgians by Guaranteeing Open and Fair Elections
•        End Financial Fraud and Abuse
•        Grow New Businesses by Cutting Red Tape, Which Will Help Create New Jobs

Family Status:

•        Married to Richard H. Sinkfield, Esq.
•        Mother of Rita Sinkfield Belin and her husband, Rev. Henry A. Belin III (First AME Church Bethel, Harlem, New York); Mother of Rick Sinkfield and his wife, Julie Doar-Sinkfield (Metropolitan AME Church, Washington, DC) 
•        Grandmother of six grandchildren