A nationwide search surfaced multiple candidates, but the World Affairs Council of Atlanta ended up not having to look very far to find its new president.
Atlanta native and award-winning Georgia journalist Rickey Bevington, a 15-year veteran of Georgia Public Broadcasting and the current host of the radio show “All Things Considered,” is set to take up the post in January. Ms. Bevington will replace Charles Shapiro, the former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela who started as president in 2014 and will retire at the end of this year.
Like Mr. Shapiro, Ms. Bevington will also hold an appointment as an executive in residence at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, with which the council is affiliated.
In addition to her journalistic credentials as senior correspondent at GPB, Ms. Bevington has a substantive history of international engagement, particularly in Europe, that has often dovetailed with her role fostering an informed public at home.
Selected as a German Marshall Fund of the United States Marshall Memorial Fellow in 2014, she has studied public policy and transatlantic relations in Belgium, Sweden, Montenegro, Poland and Germany. In 2018, she won a grant to study the evolution of media freedoms in Hungary and Serbia. The following year, she traveled to Ukraine to observe propaganda and the presidential elections as part of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Local Journalists Initiative.
Last year amid the pandemic, she was named a French-American Foundation young leader, and just a month ago she traveled to France with 40 other members of the prestigious cohort for a program marking the 40th anniversary of the initiative. The group met with French President Emmanuel Macron and visited various sites relevant to the bilateral relationship, including the Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery at Normandy. Ms. Bevington’s ties to France are deep and poignant, coinciding with Atlanta’s own history of engagement with the country, particularly in the arts.
She joins the council as it has resumed in-person programming after more than a year of mostly virtual conversations held via Zoom, an instructive period of digital innovation that influenced the search for Mr. Shapiro’s replacement.
“Her experience as a journalist will be invaluable as the council moves forward with the digital content and outreach strategies developed during the pandemic,” said Dennis Lockhart, retired president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and co-chair of the presidential search committee. Mr. Lockhart served as the council’s initial chair when it launched in 2010.
Ms. Bevington is not only a sought-after emcee at events around Atlanta, but she is a seasoned communicator who has interviewed top politicians and moderated Atlanta Press Club candidate debates and conversations including the council’s own International Women’s Day breakfasts from 2016-20. She has won two Edward R. Murrow awards for journalism excellence.
The council, which sees its mission as supporting “the city’s transformation into an international economic hub,” is a nonpartisan membership organization that brings in-depth conversations on global issues to the city.
“As citizens of the world develop deeper conversations and collaboration on shared challenges ranging from climate change to public health to our economy, there’s never been a more pivotal time for Atlanta to embrace its position as a global leader,” said Ms. Bevington in a statement. “I’m excited to hit the ground running in 2022.”
In a letter to members and friends welcoming his successor, Mr. Shapiro thanked former board chairs Mr. Lockhart and Clyde Tuggle, who led the search committee considering “dozens of applicants from around the U.S.”
“I could not be more pleased that after a long, rigorous process they proposed Rickey to the full Board, which agreed unanimously with the Search Committee’s recommendation of Rickey. I am confident that the World Affairs Council will soar under Rickey’s direction and I know that all of you will welcome her the way that you welcomed me seven years ago,” he said, adding: “Over to you, Rickey.”
Ms. Bevington will be tasked with building a new team at the council, as most of its staff has turned over since the pandemic in March 2020. She also serves on the board of the Georgia Council for International Visitors and the Atlanta Press Club, and is an ardent Atlanta United fan and a passionate campaigner for truth dedicated to rooting out mis- and disinformation in the news media.
Learn more about the council at www.wacatlanta.org.
GSU-CIBER is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Education Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Education newsletters.
The Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Diplomacy Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Diplomacy newsletters.