Representative Carl Wayne Scott Gilliard was born in Savannah Georgia. Representative Gilliard was raised in the Chatham County Schools where he attended Alfred Ely Beach High School. He later attended Morris Brown College in Atlanta Georgia and attended New Generation School of Seminary where he earned a Doctrine Divinity. But it was an Atlanta Georgia at Morris Brown College where he met his mentor for life the Reverend Dr. Hosea Williams. While working with Reverend William he had an opportunity at a young age to work with national leadership with such individuals as Reverend Dr. Ralph Abernathy, Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, NBA Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy, former wrestler Thunderbolt Patterson and the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King.
But it was under the direction of his mentor Reverend Hosea Williams and the loss of two friends to senseless murders that Representative Gilliard returned to Savannah to take action against the violence that plagued his city. He formed the first positive rap group in the nation entitled Candy Love. They became the first rap group to render public service announcements for the United Negro College Fund, Coca-Cola, the Georgia Department of Family Services, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Nelson Mandela and the National Stop the Violence campaign with Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Continuing his work in Savannah, Representative Gilliard was responsible for forming the largest youth group in the nation Project Love. He also founded the Chatham County Youth Commission, the Saturday Monday Academy and programs like the Savannah Drama Club. He was the first African-American contributing writer for Connect Savannah. He has written four National gospel plays; he also hosted the number one talk show and Savannah for 10 years on WSOJ entitled "Tell it like it is". He has hosted the television show on cable 7 entitled "The Savannah Edition". in 1995 he was appointed by the national SCLC as the president of the Georgia Coastal SCLC which encompassed over 15 cities in Georgia.
In 2009 he founded Feed the Hungry, a 501 c3 whose mission is to feed, restore and add dignity to the working poor. Currently, Feed the Hungry has served in over 14 cities and served over 1.5 million meals. Representative Gilliard in 2019 was named one of the top 100 most influential African-Americans in Georgia. He currently has a segment on six radio syndicated radio stations entitled "Word Up" a n d o n four radio ESPN stations along with Magic 103.9 FM and WEASFM. Representative Gilliard was elected and is serving his fourth term in the Georgia General Assembly for House District 162. He's responsible for landmark legislation that he authored entitled, "The Blind Bill". Giving blind parents a chance to be parents and no longer allowing their children to be taken away from them. He's also one of the few Democrats to Chair a study committee and recently has had Landmark legislation passed in House Bill 750 the Chatham County Legislative Gang Prevention and Intervention Commission which is serving as a model for the State of Georgia.
He recently was the original author of House Bill 479 repealing Georgia's Citizen Arrest Law which was recently passed. Representative Gilliard worked with New York Senator Michael Gianaris in co-authoring and passing legislation in New York and Representative Wendell Gilliard in South Carolina. His work has been championed in this session of the Geneva Convention.
He has been labeled as the “James Brown” of the Georgia General Assembly as one of the hardest-working legislators in Georgia and has delivered more legislation than any Democrat in the house or the senate over the last three sessions. He's currently working on the film entitled, "The Original 33" about the first black original legislators in Georgia. Representative Carl Gilliard has received a Doctor of Christian Leadership & Business from Kingdom Ambassadors Global Institute Inc. and New Generation Bible Institute. In 2021 he was voted as the GLBC Legislator of the Year. He is the Chairman of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. The largest Black Caucus in the nation. Ladies and gentlemen, the gentleman from District 162 The Honorable Representative Carl W. Scott Gilliard.
CARL WAYNE GILLIARD
D - Garden City
District 162
Capitol Address
512-G Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg.
ATLANTA, GA 30334
Atlanta Office: 404.656.7859
Savannah Office: 912.436.5325
COMMITTEES
CHAIRMAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND COMMERCE AD-HOC COMMITTEE
APPROPRIATIONS
INSURANCE
TRANSPORTATION
INTERSTATE COOPERATION
STATE PROPERTIES
THE GEORGIA JAPAN CAUCAS
THE GEORGIA ENTERTAINMENT CAUCAS
WORKING COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT GEORGIA
COMMISSION ON FILM, MUSIC, AND DIGITAL DOWNLOAD LEGISLATIVE AND CONGRESS
REAPPORTIONMENT
THE LEARNING WORKING GROUP
SWORN IN ON MAY 5, 2016
Representative Carl Gilliard represents the citizens of District 162, which includes portions of Chatham County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2016.
For more information, please call 912-436-5325.
