MEET Jeremiah Olney
Jeremiah is running for state representative to build a better Georgia that puts the needs of its residents over the profits of special interests.
Jeremiah has called the Atlanta area home since the day he was born at Piedmont Hospital. He grew up just a few miles away in Decatur, where he was lucky enough to attend strong, well-funded public schools. He was raised by his remarkable mother who juggled being a single mom of two boys while getting her college education and eventually becoming a public servant, working for the state. Like so many other Georgians, his family relied on a mix of income, public benefits, and family support just to make ends meet. Jeremiah understands how much our neighbors have to sacrifice to keep their families afloat because he saw his mother make those hard choices every day.
Jeremiah went on to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Affairs. While there, he participated in an internship in the office of Congressman John Lewis and more than a decade later, the lessons he learned from Congressman Lewis continue to shape his perspective on our collective responsibility to fight back against injustice.
After graduating, Jeremiah went on to work for the Georgia Senate Democratic Caucus, DeKalb County Government, and as a government relations and campaign consultant. All of these jobs provided him with deeper insight into how government functions and even more importantly, how it doesn’t. As a political consultant, he was exposed to how corporations and wealthy Georgians buy their way into the halls of power while working class Georgians are locked out. The system is broken for millions of Georgians but for the few who can afford it, it’s working exactly as intended.
There are enough voices in our government speaking on behalf of the rich and powerful. For years, the cost of living has increased, state services are harder to access, and wages have stagnated. For the millionaires in office who have spent years pushing half-measures, that’s fine. For the rest of us, however, enough is enough.
Jeremiah is a renter and public school graduate who is still paying off student loans and spent years on insurance purchased from the Affordable Care Act marketplace. He has benefitted from what few resources are made available to those who need a helping hand, resources which are now collapsing under the weight of corporate greed and extreme conservative ideology. Our system is fundamentally broken and Jeremiah is running to rebuild it from the ground up, not cover the cracks with duct tape.
Jeremiah currently works for an environmental non-profit organization, fighting to conserve and protect nature across Georgia. He also serves as president of the alumni association for the only co-ed social fraternity at Georgia Tech. He previously served on the boards of Young Democrats of Atlanta and Planned Parenthood Young Leaders. In his free time, Jeremiah enjoys going to heavy metal concerts, playing Dungeons and Dragons, baking, and exploring every corner of Atlanta on foot.
