JANENE BROWDER
Senior Staff Attorney, Georgia Gov’t Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission
Savannah State University ’03, Mercer University ’09 M.B.A., Mercer University School of Law ’12 J.D.
Smyrna, GA
The daughter of two members of the Air Force, Janene grew up with a recognition of the importance of service. “I think it was just ingrained in me at a young age, having parents who were service members.”
She grew up in Atlanta, after relocating there after her father left the Air Force to work for Southern Bell Company. When it was time to leave for college, Janene had the desire to attend her father’s alma mater, Southern University in Louisiana. “But while I was in high school, my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and I just felt more and more uncomfortable being so far away. But thankfully, I had a mother who insisted that I not stay home in Atlanta. She wanted me to have an opportunity to come of age, without all of my decisions being guided by the closeness of being at home. I had been raised in a way that made me partial to a Historically Black College or University and that’s part of what lead me to Savannah State University.”
Janene says that the HOPE Scholarship had three primary impacts on her: it affected her sense of community, academic standards, and freedom. “The HOPE Scholarship gave me a larger sense of community. I felt like everyone across the state that purchased those lottery tickets was invested in my education. It also kept me with a standard that let me know not only were these people across the state invested in my education, but in order for that relationship to continue, there was some standard that I had to meet academically. And the third, is freedom. There is freedom in being able to use your time in different ways. It allowed me the freedom to be involved on campus and time that I might not have had to become as well-rounded as I could be, if not for having this source of funds to cover my tuition costs.”
Janene has continued to serve her community throughout her career and now serves as the Senior Staff Attorney on Georgia’s Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission. “I feel like I am serving the community that helped me get everything started. The statewide community was the reason why I had the tuition scholarship that I received. The work that I do now, it’s really about compliance and enforcement related to campaign filings and disclosures. We have some candidates for public offices whose positions are statewide positions, but some of them are also local. I am always thinking about the people in that community when I’m working to do my best to find resolutions in compliance with the law. To me, that’s the best thing.”
Janene lives in Smyrna with her husband, Hussene, and their four-year-old son. In the future, she would like to consider using her background in business to explore the private sector, while continuing her commitment to serving her community through volunteering.