Carol Clarke
Carol E. Clarke (born c. 1963 in Birmingham) is the executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Birmingham and a member of the Birmingham City Council, representing District 8.
Clarke attended Wilkerson and Scott Elementary Schools and graduated from Ramsay High School. She earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. She worked as a staff engineer for the Brooklyn Union Gas Company in New York from 1989 to 1993 and later worked for H. J. Russell & Co. as a program management consultant. While working there, she managed the Birmingham events of the 1996 Olympic Games.
In 2000, Clarke was hired as a chief administrative assistant for capital projects for the City of Birmingham. She was promoted to Director of the Birmingham Department of Economic Development under Mayor Bernard Kincaid. She continued in that role after Larry Langford took office in November 2007, but left to work for Regions Bank in 2008. She was succeeded by Tracy Morant-Adams. She has also served as the chair of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham.
In November 2012 Clarke was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Edward Maddox on the Birmingham Board of Education. She did not run in the 2013 Birmingham municipal election.
Clarke left Regions for Iberia Bank in 2016. In 2017 she was hired as project director and community development specialist for Corporate Realty. As part of her role there she served as acting general manager of the Southside Development Company, a partnership between Corporate Realty, the Housing Authority, and other property managers responsible for redeveloping the former Southtown Court public housing project.
In 2020 Clarke was appointed by the Birmingham City Council to serve on the Birmingham Land Bank Authority board of directors. Clarke has also served as chair of the board for Create Birmingham and on the boards of the Jefferson County Memorial Project, REV Birmingham, Neighborhood Services of Birmingham, the Birmingham Industrial Development Board, Urban Impact, Aletheia House, and Taste of 4th Avenue. She also served on the advisory board for the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Clarke qualified to run for the open Birmingham City Council District 8 seat in the 2021 Birmingham municipal election. As a candidate she pledged to improve the quality of life in the district with violence reduction, clean-up, and business development programs. Her campaign was supported by large donations from Pride PAC II, Monique Rogers, and Greg Gratton. She won the seat
Clarke was named executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Birmingham in 2024.
| Preceded by: Edward Maddox |
Birmingham Board of Education District 4 2012–2013 |
Succeeded by: Daagye Hendricks |
| Preceded by: Stephen Hoyt |
Birmingham City Council District 8 2021– |
Succeeded by: ' |
References
- DeButts, Jimmy (January 8, 2008) "Birmingham's economic development director leaves for Regions Bank job." Birmingham Business Journal
- Leech, Marie (November 8, 2012) "Carol Clarke chosen for Birmingham school board's District 4." The Birmingham News
- "Who’s Running For Birmingham City Council?" (August 16, 2021) WBHM.org/Birmingham Watch
- Clarke, Carol (February 22, 2022) "Reshaping the ‘Most Segregated City in America’." editorial The Birmingham News
External links
- Carol Clarke campaign website
- Corporate Realty Team website
- Southside Development Company website