About Me

How I Came to Be Here

Let me tell you how I came to be here. Now, I am not a native of this wonderful state, however I am what some call a “transplant” or as my grandfather would call me a “Georgia Peach,” because I made the choice to become a Georgian over twenty-five years ago. Back then, I was just a kid graduating from high school at 17, and moved to Georgia to attend Augusta State University, currently known as Augusta University. While attending college, I worked at least two jobs the entire time and started a family. Many of the jobs were entry level positions that would work with my school schedule such as McDonald’s; Chuck E. Cheese; CVS; EZ-GO, two Day Care Centers; and serving customers at Red Lobster, just to name a few.

Working multiple jobs while attending school helped to offset the high cost of daycare, additionally, working two part-time jobs allowed the ability to work 60-70 hours weekly instead of a full-time job with employers that deny overtime for more than 40 hours. My employment allowed me to meet so many different, wonderful, and interesting people. Many of the establishments had regular customers, these were people who would visit the establishment daily, sometimes even more than once a day. These kind customers would see us workers, speak to us as we in turn would see and speak with them. We would wonder or worry about guests that we did not see for a period of time, especially our retired or elderly guests.

Once I earned my undergraduate degree in Political Science in legal studies, I accepted my first salary job as a misdemeanor probation officer, and gave birth to my third child approximately two years later. This was during a time when pregnancy was considered a pre-existing condition that allowed denial of insurance coverage. Remember those good ol’ days! After working there for three years, I accepted employment with the Georgia Department of Corrections as a probation officer working for the State of Georgia. In 2015, probation and parole separated from the Georgia Department of Corrections by creating its own agency, the Georgia Department of Community Supervision where I remained employed as a probation officer in various roles for over ten years.

While continuing employment in law enforcement as a probation officer with the State, I obtained two master’s degrees, the first master’s degree in Criminal Justice and the second master’s degree in International Relations focusing on homeland security. In May of 2015, I was promoted to Assistant Chief Community Supervision Officer over the Augusta Sex Offender Unit, while studying to take the LSATs in early 2016, an exam required by law schools, and while preparing to give birth to my fourth child in early 2016.

When my son turned approximately 5 months old, I started law school. With a very dedicated schedule, I was able to remain working full time for the State of Georgia, drive 5 hours round trip, three times per week to attend law school part time, and continue to be a wife and mother. I went to law school because I wanted to fight for the rights of others that have been wronged by the system, wronged by society, and oppressed or marginalized for lacking financial means, for lacking the “right connections,” or for lacking a preferred appearance! One individual at a time, one legal fight at a time, I would hopefully reinstill some measure of hope to citizens that not only have lost faith in our legal institutions, but worse, in humanity or the common good and decency this world could offer. We have to be the change we want to see in the world!

My fifth and last child was born toward the end of law school. Really, childbirth and rearing is already very stressful for parents, but the level of stress tends to skyrocket for nursing mothers returning to the workforce or school because scheduling the day around the babies time to nurse or the time and location to pump, is a level of stress that words cannot do justice. Shout out to nursing mothers! After graduating law school and passing the Georgia State Bar, I accepted a State position as a prosecutor at the Augusta District Attorney’s Office in 2021. Prosecutors hold such a unique position as the gatekeepers of cases that are appropriate or inappropriate to be prosecuted depending on the applicable laws and initial facts or evidence relevant to a case. I absolutely loved the work we did as prosecutors and being a voice for victims!

In addition to working at the District Attorney’s Office, my husband and I co founded, The Missing Link Found, Inc., on 12/21/2021. The Missing Link Found is an underserved and at-risk youth non-profit that focuses on providing tailored resources to youth at absolutely no cost to the youth or family! The nonprofit is funded entirely through small community grants and donations with the overall purpose of providing “Seeds to Teens to Succeed!” Many of our program participants have experienced trauma, violence, and an overall desertion of “the village.”

A subcomponent of The Missing Link Found is our boys travel basketball team, the MNM Stars for which my son and I founded together. Me and one other very talented coach are the team Coaches. Our players pay nothing to be a part of the MNM Stars team and we take pride in our team development, progress, and dedication. We know the hard day to day work with these young males matters and makes a difference. We have taken our players to visit UGA, Clemson, Georgia Southern, and USC Gamecocks. Many of our players had never attended Lights of the South, Myrtle Beach, Florida, numerous locations in South Carolina, and North Carolina. Our players are with us learning and creating life goals on how they will be successful in life. Watching a child dream in real time is one of the most priceless parts of life!

Overall, my education, employment, training and experience have allowed me the most humbling opportunity of dealing with people from various backgrounds, many from some of the poorest neighborhoods in Augusta. I was able to see that the problems people faced weren’t just local in nature because the impact was relatively the same for communities in the northeast in the same way that the communities in Georgia were impacted. For instance, the decision to lay off workers or close a factory altogether, usually decided by executives that care more about their bottom line or their profits than the reality of workers living below the poverty line and struggling just to take care of their families. Schools or areas that lack necessary resources for children to flourish and reach their potential could be traced to politicians’ own agendas. We as a people need to support one another, check our own egos, and get back to building our nation into one of strong, but mindful leaders.  I give my salutations today by sharing with you one of the most life altering scriptures for me that reads,

“ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us? And I said: Here am I. Send me!”

(Isaiah 6:8 New Revised Standard Version)

Thank you, May God Bless you, and May God Bless Us ALL!
Peace-Nichols 4 All for Congress