Russell Hopson

Service, Community and Accountability are pillars of Russell Hopson’s life.  He has served as chair of Neighborhood Planning Unit Y where he galvanized and organized 11 contiguous neighborhoods around public safety, sustainability, transportation, and civic engagement. As former president of Historic South Atlanta’s South Atlanta Civic League he united neighbors behind connectivity, beautification, safety concerns and educational access while developing programming that sustains and perpetuates neighborhood solidarity.

Russell was a founding member of AB67, the community engagement and service arm of The Atlanta Beltline Partnership. He served on the Fulton County District 5 Constituent Services task force as Public Safety and Justice Chair. He has been a dedicated member of the New Leaders Council, serving as Co-Director of the Atlanta Chapter and National Senior Trainer. He has served on the Board of Directors for Red Clay Democrats, is a graduate of the United Way VIP program and a 2015 Outstanding Atlanta Honoree. Russell is also a 2017 alum of Project Understanding sponsored by AJC Atlanta. 

Born and raised in Hampton, VA, Russell’s love for service and scholarship led him to Florida A & M University.  While attending FAMU he founded a mentoring and tutorial program, served as an early childhood development instructor, taught Upward Bound students and was Community Service Chair for his fraternity.  He organized voter registration/turnout initiatives and student protests challenging the questionable polling practices of the Florida elections. Russell is proud graduate of FAMU with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.

Russell is a career medical sales professional who currently works for ViiV Healthcare providing lifesaving HIV therapies to underserved communities. He is a proud long standing member of the MSM PRC and is also the community liaison member on the Morehouse School of Medicine / Morehouse Healthcare Board of Trustees. In that role he gives critical perspective on steering strategies regarding equitable and accessible community health engagement.