District 1 Commissioner Kirkland Carden

Kirkland Carden, a former Duluth City Council member, was first elected to the District 1 seat of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners in 2020. District 1 includes the cities of Berkeley Lake, Duluth, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, and portions of Suwanee and Lawrenceville. At age 29, he was elected to the Duluth City Council, becoming the first millennial and the first African-American council member in the city.

An Ohio native, Kirkland's family relocated to Duluth in 2004. In 2007, Kirkland graduated from Duluth High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Georgia State University.  Carden was elected to the Duluth City Council in 2017. He also served on the Duluth Urban Redevelopment Authority.

In his professional capacity, he has assisted state and local governments in developing, maintaining, and implementing transportation plans. Additional responsibilities have included budget oversight and facilitating compliance with local land use and zoning ordinances.

For the past decade, he has volunteered as a member of the Duluth Zoning Board of Appeals, Duluth Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, Rainbow Village Millennials Advisory Panel, Gwinnett 101, and the Duluth Fall Festival. The Georgia Municipal Association named him to the 2019 inaugural cohort of the 20 Under 40 Focus Group.