Gwinnett County Employee Given Legislative Advocate Award

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia recognized Gwinnett County Legislative Liaison Susan Lee as the recipient of the 2011 Legislative Advocate of the Year Award. The award was presented during the Celebrating Achievement Awards Ceremony at the association’s annual conference May 2 at the Savannah Civic Center. 

ACCG presents partnership and advocacy awards to recognize individuals and organizations that support the work of county government.

In 2011, ACCG created a County Legislative Coordinator program to support the work of the association’s policy team. Lee worked closely with ACCG to help educate legislators about the importance several bills before the General Assembly that impacted county E-911 funding. She also provided county data as requested on other legislative issues to help legislators understand the potential impact. 

“Susan fulfilled the County Legislative Coordinator role exactly as we had envisioned it,” CCG Executive Director Ross King said in a press release.  “She served as an extension of our policy team and helped the association further county priorities that will benefit local governments throughout the state.” 

According to the press release, the ACCG Legislative Advocate of the Year Award recognizes an individual or organization which has made extraordinary contributions to furthering county legislative initiatives by actively working with the ACCG policy team, regularly attending ACCG legislative meetings and establishing good working relationships with state and federal legislators.

Lee has served as Gwinnett County’s Legislative Liaison since July 2009. Before that she held several other roles with the Gwinnett County Government. In 1987, she began working as a benefits specialist in what is now Human Resources, earning promotion to senior HR generalist, then HR manager of HR Information Systems and Compensation. After a stint at home as a full-time mom and part-time consultant with the county, she returned to full-time employment with Gwinnett County in January 2003. She earned her certification as a senior professional in HR through the Society for HR Management in June 2004.

Lee was appointed HR director in January 2005 after co-directing the department for two years. She was responsible for human resources functions including employment, compensation, organizational development, employee relations, and administration. 

Serving as deputy county administrator from January 2007 through July 2009, Lee oversaw several areas of county government operations: human resources, support services, police, fire and emergency services, corrections and human relations.

A longtime resident of Gwinnett County, Lee is a Parkview High School graduate and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Georgia State University. She volunteers with the American Cancer Society as a key member of the Gwinnett County Relay for Life steering committee. Lee lives in Buford with her husband and two daughters.