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[Archived] Alexandria City Manager Vola Lawson Appoints Elbert Ransom, Jr., Special Assistant to the City Manager for Human Relations
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:
Wednesday, July 2, 1997
Contact:
Tom Brannan, Assistant City Manager, (703) 838-4300
Alexandria City Manager Vola Lawson Appoints Elbert Ransom, Jr., Special Assistant to the City Manager for Human Relations
Alexandria City Manager Vola Lawson today announced the appointment of Elbert "Bert" Ransom, Jr., to fill the position of Special Assistant to the City Manager for Human Relations. Mr. Ransom, who has 21 years of local government supervisory and management experience, will start work on August 4.
In his new position, Mr. Ransom will serve as the principal advisor to Alexandria City Manager Vola Lawson on programs promoting affirmative action, diversity and equal employment opportunity. He will also serve as Director of the Human Relations Department, which includes the City’s affirmative action program, the Office of Human Rights, and the Office on Women.
The City’s Human Relations Department has an annual budget of $1.3 million and 17 full-time employees. The Department, through its Office on Women and the Office of Human Rights, provides staff support to two City Council-appointed commissions: the Alexandria Commission for Women and the Alexandria Human Rights Commission. The Office on Women operates a variety of programs including the Office on Women’s Domestic Violence Program, the Sexual Assault Response and Awareness Program, and the Alexandria Battered Women’s Shelter. The Office of Human Rights is responsible for investigating complaints of discrimination under the City’s Human Rights Ordinance and provides a variety of human relations training programs to assist local employers comply with the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition to serving in a number of senior management positions in local government, Mr. Ransom served as Labor Liaison in the Department of Administrative Services in the District of Columbia, where from 1986 to 1991 he was responsible for preparing the Annual EEO Report on hiring practices. Prior to his local government experience, Mr. Ransom was responsible for organizing local coalitions to address social issues and providing technical assistance to a 15-state area in the southeastern U.S. for the National Urban Coalition from 1967 to 1970. Mr. Ransom, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, served as an aide to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Montgomery, Alabama, Bus Boycott in 1955-56 and during the mid to late 1960s.
Mr. Ransom brings to his new position considerable experience in the Alexandria community. Mr. Ransom serves as chair of the Alexandria Criminal Justice Advisory Board, is a member of the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Advisory Council, and serves as vice president of the Fayette Court Corporation, which is dedicated to preserving affordable homeownership opportunities. He is also an executive board member of the Alexandria NAACP, and is the founder and coordinator of a mentoring program for at the Alfred Street Baptist Church where he serves as an assistant pastor.
Mr. Ransom earned a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University of New Orleans, La., a master’s degree from Howard University in Washington, and a doctoral degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington.
Mr. Ransom and his wife, Louise, who reside in Alexandria’s Seminary Ridge neighborhood, are the parents of three grown children.
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