Chairwoman, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Nicole Love Hendrickson (D); 2024 770.822.7010 Nicole.Hendrickson@gwinnettcounty.com Download Image

Nicole Love Hendrickson was elected chairwoman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners in 2020, making her the first African American to hold this position in Georgia's most diverse and second-most populous county. As the Commission Chair, she leads the Board in setting the direction and formulating policies for County government, overseeing the creation and adoption of the County’s more than $2 billion budget, and ensuring Gwinnett’s superior services reach all its nearly 1 million residents with the standard and quality they have come to expect.

Since taking office, Chairwoman Hendrickson led Gwinnett County’s efforts in combating COVID-19, rolling out comprehensive vaccination efforts and overseeing more than $180 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Under her leadership, Gwinnett opened the first COVID-19 mass vaccination site in the state in partnership with GNR Health Department, which resulted in Gwinnett County being one of the leading counties in Georgia for vaccination rates. She also helped launch Project RESET 2.0, providing more than 6,000 struggling households impacted by COVID-19 with emergency rental and utility assistance.

Chairwoman Hendrickson was instrumental in rewriting Gwinnett County’s vision, mission, and values statements to emphasize the principles of accountability, transparency, equity, inclusivity, and innovation. She continues to lead in the development of Gwinnett’s unprecedented Equity Action Plan and the Gwinnett Place Mall Equitable Redevelopment Plan, which both serve as guiding principles for ensuring investments and service delivery center the voices of the community.

Chairwoman Hendrickson oversaw the investment and launch of the Gwinnett Entrepreneur Center as well as the initiation and expansion of the Police Mental Health Collaboration pilot program, both of which have expanded since their launch.

Embracing Gwinnett’s diversity, she is the first Gwinnett County Chair to host the County’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month celebration and recognize Juneteenth as a paid county holiday.

Chairwoman Hendrickson is active on several local and statewide boards including the Atlanta Regional Commission, Metropolitan North Georgia Water District Board, Gwinnett Board of Health, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Aurora Theatre. She is a proud member of the Rotary Club of Gwinnett County. She currently leads the Local Leaders Housing Action Committee, which is tasked with developing a regionwide plan to address housing affordability challenges.

Chairwoman Hendrickson is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Gwinnett, a 2016 graduate of the ARC’s Regional Leadership Institute, and a 2016 graduate of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber’s Cultivating Hispanic Leaders Institute.

She has been recognized as one of Engineering Georgia’s 100 Most Influential Women in Georgia and Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans. She was the recipient of Congressman Hank Johnson’s Trailblazer Award and the Gwinnett Chamber Public Service Award. In 2018, Georgia Trend named her one of the state’s top 40 under 40.

Prior to being elected Chairwoman, she served as Gwinnett’s first Community Outreach Director. During her tenure in Community Outreach, Chairwoman Hendrickson championed Gwinnett’s multicultural outreach efforts and launched several community-based initiatives, including the Gwinnett 101 Citizens Academy and the Gwinnett Youth Commission.

She graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor's degree in psychology and earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Georgia. She currently resides in unincorporated Lilburn with her husband and their son.