SAVANNAH, Ga. () — The first black person and the first woman to serve as mayor of the city of College Park, Georgia, Bianca Motley Broom, is now president of the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA). The announcement was made Sunday at the Savannah Convention Center.

GMA represents all 537 cities in Georgia and provides leadership, advocacy and education services. Organizers say Broom’s election marks a historic moment for both the city of College Park and municipal leadership across the state.

GMA CEO and executive director Larry Hanson told News 3 why it is important for our cities to gather in one place for meetings like this. “They leave here with information they can take home to implement in their communities and to make life better for their citizens, to develop better policies, to look at programs we have, whether it’s around literacy or workforce development, to help them meet the challenges that they have, because it is a challenging time to serve.”