About EPA
Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, Regional Administrator for EPA’s Southeast Region
Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming
- Schedule
- Phone: (404) 562-8357
- About the Region 4 Office
Ms. Fleming was appointed by President Barack Obama as the Region 4 Regional Administrator in September 2010. She is the first African American to hold this position in Region 4, however, this is not the first time she has made history.
Gwen Keyes Fleming took office as the DeKalb County District Attorney in January 2005 making her the first African-American and first woman ever to serve in this post. As DeKalb’s DA her staff prosecuted approximately 11,000 felony cases annually. She also managed and trained approximately 45 attorneys, more than 55 support personnel and administered a $12 million budget.
Some of her key initiatives as DA included the creation of a pre-trial diversion program, expanding support services for victims, dedicating resources that focus on crimes against women, white-collar crime, gang violence, truancy among teens and Just Us G.A.L.S., Girls Achieving Leadership and Success, an annual teen mentoring workshop. She also co-hosted quarterly a series of community meetings called Crime Prevention Tours. At the meetings DeKalb County residents learned about how DeKalb County law enforcement agencies work together to help prevent and prosecute crime.
Before being elected in November 2004 as the DeKalb County DA, she was DeKalb’s Solicitor-General being sworn into office in January 1999. She made history in this post as the first African-American, first woman and the youngest person ever elected as Solicitor-General in DeKalb County.
Gwen is a New Jersey native and earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Douglass College, the all-women's college affiliated with Rutgers University. She earned her law degree from the Emory University School of Law. She is a former president of Emory Law School’s Alumni Association, has served as an Emory University School of Law adjunct professor and received the institution’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007 among other legal honors. She is a member of the National Council of Negro Women, the NAACP, a graduate of the Leadership DeKalb Class of 1999, the Leadership Georgia Class of 2000 and the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2007. She is on the State Bar of Georgia’s 2009-2010 law-related education committee and a member of the State Bar Board of Governors.
In October 1999 she initiated a faith-based coalition to end domestic violence in DeKalb. The project educated faith community members about domestic violence and available counseling resources, but also provided training and assistance to religious leaders who wanted to establish their own counseling services or shelter facilities.
She has been featured in various newspapers and magazines and has appeared as a guest commentator on In Session, a national TV show about criminal trials that airs on truTV, a CNN property. The Atlanta Business League selected her as one of Atlanta's Top 100 Black Women of Influence and Ebony featured her in its March 2000 issue as one of "21 Women to Watch for the 21st Century." She has also been recognized as one of Georgia Trend magazine’s "Top 40 Under 40." In September 2009 she was chosen by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, a leading business newspaper, for its “Who’s Who.” The honor is bestowed upon the top 100 metro Atlanta professionals who are leaders in their respective professions. She is the 2010 recipient of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys’ Leah Ward Sears Award of Distinction.
In March 2001, Gwen was inducted into the Douglass College Alumna Hall of Fame for her contributions to the law and the community. She is the youngest alumna to be so honored in the college's history.
Gwen credits her parents, Ursula Keyes, a retired registered nurse and her late father, Andrew J. Keyes, a former Tuskegee Airman, as the reason for her commitment to community service. She says that her parents “taught her to have compassion for people who cannot help themselves.” She is married to Randal Fleming and they have two sons. The Flemings are members of Green Forest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia.