Black History Month: Councilwoman Wanda Warren

Published 7:45 am Tuesday, February 21, 2023

THOMASVILLE- Councilwoman Wanda Warren has an illustrious history of not only serving her community, but her country as well. 

Warren was born and raised in Thomasville and grew up at the former Melrose Plantation. 

“My mom and dad moved from Alabama,” she explained. “The owners at the time gave my dad a job, because he was an extremely good dog trainer, so they hired him to train their dogs. My mom got hired with the owner and we stayed out there my first five years of life before we moved into Thomasville.” 

Growing up, Warren said she never had much of an interest in government or politics. However,  once Warren began voting as an adult, a spark inside her was lit. 

“I started keeping up with who was running for political offices, but I always said I would never become a politician,” Warren remembered. “I’m very spiritual, though, so when I began praying over it and I felt like the Holy Spirit was leading me, I became a voice for the people.” 

Warren’s years of policy-making made her the prime candidate for the job, and Warren strongly believes the Holy Spirit knew what he was doing in all the years leading up to her becoming a member of the Thomasville City Council. 

Warren began her career as a civil servant for the federal government. She worked in the accounting department and quickly noticed many of the policies in her department were outdated. 

“I took the issue to my supervisor and he said, ‘okay, update the policies,’” Warren recalled. “That’s kind of where it started. I became the person everyone came to when they needed their policies written.” 

While working as an accountant, Warren joined NASA, where she eventually was promoted to a systems accountant. 

“At some point they had to do an entire overhaul of the accounting system for all nine NASA locations, so I worked on that for over two years, traveling all over to the different centers and working with them on implementation,” she said. 

Warren recalled her days at NASA fondly, saying it was an exciting time in her life, where she was often encouraged to follow her voice. 

“They let everyone be free with the vision and be creative, even in the boring accounting world,” Warren said. “We worked a lot with the programming offices, who were involved in getting the space shuttles up and ready for takeoff.” 

While Warren never got to experience the magic of being inside the space shuttle, she said if called to go back she would consider it, as she is always open to an adventure. 

After years of working at NASA, Warren began consulting with the federal government and creating policies for private entities and other smaller agencies. She eventually left the government sector and took her consulting business private, opening up a location in Thomasville in 2009.

“It’s been so exciting to be back and help my community focus on our vision of growing and helping our city thrive,” she said. 

One of the ways Warren and her fellow City Council members have helped the community is through their partnership with the Community Development Corporation. 

“The goal is to address all of the housing needs our community has,” Warren said. “They don’t just put first time homeowners in a house, they help with utility assistance, mortgage assistance, rental assistance and they help seniors on fixed income renovate their properties.” 

Warren has a deep care for the senior citizens in the Thomasville community and aims to make sure they are taken care of during her time on City Council. 

“I want to see how we can better address the needs of seniors and I want to make sure we are making our city more senior focused, so they feel great living here,” she said. “I want to make sure our sidewalks are taken care of, so they can use their wheelchair or cane without fear.” 

Warren has also looked into ways Thomasville can incorporate more senior-centric communities, which would include smaller homes and working with developers. 

While working with developers, Warren hopes to additionally take some of the empty lots around Thomasville and turn them into community gardens. 

Warren said all of these projects are part of her main goal, which is helping people, something she was determined to do when she was elected as the first black female city councilwoman. 

“I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me and keep me humble while I’m serving the people of this community,” she said. “I want to make sure what I’m seeing is in alignment with what is needed.” 

Warren admitted she may get things wrong sometimes, but she works hard to look at all of the facts and base her decisions off of the information provided to her, while providing constant community updates to keep citizens involved. 

“I do a lot behind the scenes that people don’t see,” she said. “I want to be the best representative to our community.” 

Warren’s dedication to her community has not gone unnoticed, and while her term expires this year, she is currently prayerfully considering running again. 

“I do not want to make it about me,” she said. “Truthfully, if it was about me I probably wouldn’t run.” 

While Warren contemplates the opportunity to run again, the city and the federal government thank her for her countless contributions over the years and know there is much more to come.