| State Representative Stacey Evans proudly represents House District 57, which includes portions of Atlanta. She was elected to serve this district in 2020. Stacey is a native of Ringgold and a life-long Georgian. Stacey is a first generation college student, and she credits the HOPE Scholarship Program with allowing her to afford college. She is a "Double Dawg" having earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia. Stacey is an attorney. She has taken on healthcare giants in Medicare fraud cases in addition to representing individuals in defamation cases. Stacey is currently a partner in the law firm of Wargo & French, LLP. Stacey met her husband Andrew in law school, and they were married in 2004. Andrew practices litigation in Midtown Atlanta. They reside in the Morningside neighborhood of Atlanta with their young daughter, Ashley, toddler son, Jack, and little mutt dog, Dexter. This is Stacey's second stint in the Georgia General Assembly. Stacey previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2010-2017, representing the Smyrna and Marietta areas of Cobb County. During that time, she served on the House Rules, Appropriations, Judiciary, Juvenile Justice, Ethics and Interstate Cooperation committees. She was also a member of the Code Revision Commission. In 2016, Stacey served as the chair of the House Democratic House Caucus. Rep. Evans has gained the respect of colleagues on both sides of the political aisle, especially with her work to expand eligibility for the HOPE Grant, which provides tuition for students attending technical schools. In 2013, she introduced bipartisan legislation to help restore HOPE Grant funding for the 45,000 students who were forced to leave technical schools due to the 2011 cuts to the HOPE Grant. This legislation was adopted by the governor and passed with strong, bipartisan support. In 2014, Stacey again authored bipartisan legislation to expand access to the HOPE Grant that led to the passing of the legislation that created the Zell Miller HOPE Grant, a grant that provides full tuition for technical school students that maintain a 3.5 grade point average. During the 2015 legislative session, she gained public recognition for helping lead the charge in the House Judiciary Committee against the ill named "religious freedoms" bill that aimed to protect people who chose to discriminate against the LGBT community. Stacey is the Governance Committee Chair and serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential (GCAPP). She also serves on the University of Georgia School of Law Board of Visitors and the Kennesaw State University Political Science Advisory Board. Stacey is a past board member and chair of the Board of Directors for the Smyrna Public Safety Foundation. She also previously served on the Board of Communities in Schools of Marietta/Cobb County. Stacey is also a two term past statewide president for the Young Democrats of Georgia and a past chair for Georgia's "Women in Numbers" (WIN) List. This trailblazing organization provides financial and strategic support for women running for statewide and legislative offices in Georgia. She is also a past member of the Board of Directors of the Red Clay Democrats. She has served on the Board of the Cobb Library Foundation and the events committee for the Triple Pink Foundation, which works to raise awareness regarding triple negative breast cancer. She is a past chair for the statewide Georgia High School Mock Trial Competition and has served as a competition judge and a regional competition coordinator. Stacey has been recognized by a broad range of groups for her legislative work. She was the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association "Legislator of the Year" in 2014 and was awarded an A+ rating in 2013 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. She has received several awards from Creative Loafing in recent years, including Best State Elected Official in 2013, the "Teach your Children and Colleagues Well" award in 2013, and the "Super Woman" award in 2012 when she returned to the legislative session just one week after giving birth to her daughter. The Cobb County Democratic Party awarded her the "Joe Mack Wilson People's Champion" award in 2013, and the Cobb County Democratic Women named her their legislator of the year in 2013. The Cobb County chapter of the Association of University Women named Stacey their "Woman of the Year" for 2012. The Georgia Water Coalition has also recognized Stacey for her 2015 work to protect the marshes of South Georgia. Stacey has also earned several honors for leadership and community service. In 2015, Stacey was named to Georgia Trend's "40 Under 40" list and the Fulton County Daily Report's list of "40 Under 40 Rising Stars in the Legal Community." In 2004, Stacey was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in its article, "Up and Comers/Under 40 and Rising- 50 of Atlanta's Most Promising Young Stars;" she was the youngest person in this group of distinguished Georgians. Stacey was also named to the Class of 2008 of Outstanding Atlanta. In 2012, Stacey was named to UGA's "40 under 40." She is a graduate of LEAD Atlanta, the State Bar Young Lawyers Division Leadership Academy and the Atlanta Women's Foundation Destiny Fund. She was named to Atlanta Magazine's Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in 2010-2012 and 2014-2016. |