Savannah City Manager Joseph A. Melder has appointed Takeshia Brown as the City’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and Ronald Feldner as the Senior Director of Water Resources. 

Brown will bring nearly seven years of leadership and multicultural affairs experience to her new role with the City of Savannah. She currently serves as the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Georgia Southern University. In this role, she is responsible for the oversight of retention and mentoring programs for underrepresented students, as well as diversity and social justice education on all three campuses. Brown will begin her role with the City of Savannah on Monday, July 25.

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer will be responsible for developing and implementing the City of Savannah’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and initiatives. Brown will work collaboratively with the City’s Leadership Team to provide advisement, coaching and training to staff on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Feldner previously served as the City Manager of Garden City, Georgia, for nearly eight years. In that role, he was responsible for managing the daily operations of the City as well as oversight as it pertains to the technical and engineering aspects of the Public Works operation. In this capacity, he supported the department heads and staff with the planning, engineering, administration, and funding elements of Garden City’s Water Resources operation, including the Water & Sewer Department and Stormwater Utility Department. Feldner, a Georgia Registered Professional Engineer, also has more than three decades of experience as a private sector engineering consultant, with most of his clients being local governments in Georgia. He will begin his new role as Savannah’s Senior Director of Water Resources on Monday, July 11.

The City of Savannah’s Water Resources department promotes public health and safety through intelligent management of our water resources and greenspaces.