Board Vice Chair, Mrs. Shakila Henderson-Baker,
District 3
[email protected]
Shakila Henderson-Baker, who is a native of Covington, began her first term on the Newton County Board of Education on January 18, 2011. She has served as Board Chair in 2014, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023. In September 2016, Mrs. Henderson-Baker was elected to serve on the Georgia School Board Association’s Board of Directors as one (1) of fourteen (14) Directors across the State of Georgia in the role of the District 4 Director, where she represented Newton, Rockdale, DeKalb, and City Schools of Decatur. She served as the District 4 Director for GSBA for 4 years before being elected as Georgia School Board Association Vice-President for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, President-Elect for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, and in June of 2022 she was elected as the GSBA President. All 180 Boards of Education in the State of Georgia are members of the Georgia School Board Association. Mrs. Henderson-Baker also serves on both the GSBA Governance Operations Committee and the Georgia Vision for Public Education Committee. She has presented at both the winter and summer GSBA conferences yearly on topics ranging from poverty, equity, the role of the board and a board member, and social emotional learning for the last four years. She has also represented the State of Georgia as one of Georgia’s 3 delegates at the National School Board Association (NSBA) Conference and in 2019 presented at an NSBA conference on the topic of “Georgia’s Equity Journey: Lessons Learned”. In 2019, she was appointed to serve on the Simbli/EBS Board of Directors (EBoard Solutions). In 2021, she was appointed to the National School Board Association GAP Committee.
She attended Fort Valley State University on local community scholarships along with a full academic scholarship. She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Political Science from Fort Valley State University and holds a Master of Science Degree in Psychology and Counseling form Troy University. Prior, to be elected to the board of education Shakila enrolled in an Early Childhood Education Certification program at Piedmont College in Athens to learn more about education in order to best serve as an advocate for public schools and families enrolled in public education systems in the state.
Mrs. Henderson-Baker has been a Mental Health Clinician and Behavioral Specialist in mental health services for over 14 years and is currently employed by a mental health agency, where she is the Utilization Management Coordinator and audits and trains new mental health clinicians in the agency. A lover of the arts, past dancer, and past college cheerleader; she has presented in a number of state-wide mental health conferences on recovery through dance and arts. For the last four (4) years, she has also been a contracted Maternity Grief Clinician/Facilitator for Rachel’s Gift, a nonprofit organization that works with families suffering from infant loss. In this role, Mrs. Henderson-Baker is the lead counselor for Rachel’s Gift at Piedmont Rockdale and also facilitates sessions through the organization’s monthly online support group grief sessions.
Prior to being elected to the board, Mrs. Henderson-Baker served as a parent representative on the school council at then “Fairview” Theme School. Continuing with contributing to student programs she has sponsored snacks and treats at the student of the month/quarter programs, been a key note speaker at various school programs and/or honor ceremonies, mentored to teen groups, volunteered at the Special Olympics, volunteered at the after school program at Washington Street Community Center, and a guest reader at elementary schools yearly. In 2018, Shakila developed a technology scholarship in her name called the Henderson-Baker Tech for Success Scholarship and awards three (3) deserving seniors every year with a new lap top and tech equipment who are residents of District 3 and/or attend Newton High School for at least one period (All of District 3 students are zoned for Newton High).
She is a charter and active member of the Chi Tau Omega (CTO) Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. which through community service and outreach serves both Newton and Rockdale Counties. She serves on the Board of Directors for Newton County Mentoring, Board of Directors for Newton County Community Partnership, and Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club. She is a 2018 graduate of Leadership Georgia, the state’s highest leadership development program. She has received various awards across the years such as 2012 Top 10 People You Need to Know in Newton County, 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award from Fort Valley State University, 2019 Sigma Eta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Community Service Award, and the 2019 NCNW Rockdale Newton Section Dorothy L Height Trailblazer Award. She is an active volunteer in the community.
Mrs. Henderson-Baker attends New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. She is married to an educator, Mr. Rodrick Baker, together they have two very busy girls, Star and Sarai, both graduates of Newton High School. They reside in Oxford.
*Shakila attended Porterdale, Cousins, and Newton High School as a student in the school system.