Lisa Cook fights in federal court to retain her position as the first Black woman on the Federal Reserve Board, inspiring strong community support in Milledgeville.
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — In a small house on Dunlap Road, where Baldwin County schools were still segregated, Lisa Cook learned the values that would carry her to the highest levels of American finance.
Today, the Milledgeville native finds herself in federal court, fighting to retain her position as the first Black woman ever appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors — a historic role she assumed in 2022 after breaking barriers that had stood for more than a century.
Cook’s story begins in Central Georgia, where her father served as chaplain at Central State Hospital and her mother taught at Georgia College’s nursing school. Those who knew her then say they recognized something special early on.
“She is not caving. She is fighting this injustice,” said Sandra Worsham, who taught Cook English at Baldwin High School in 1982.
Worsham watched Cook excel as valedictorian and says she’s inspired by her former student’s legal challenge against her firing from the Federal Reserve.
“I’m filled with pride, and I’m sure all of her teachers are, and to see her be there and be attacked in this way,” Worsham said.
The pride extends throughout Milledgeville’s community, where longtime residents remember Cook as a brilliant student who stood up for what was right even in middle school.
“Strong-willed, she was a happy soul, and she was fighting injustice at the age of middle school,” said Cynthia Edwards, who attended school with Cook and worked alongside her on the Rain Dance Review, a student writing magazine.
Edwards recalls Cook as the classmate others turned to for help.
“We could write together,” she said. “I remember Lisa was the one, the classmate you could ask the questions because she always knew the answers.”
Even established city leaders look up to Cook’s example of standing against injustice.
“And to rise to the level she has, and that’s why I am out here, that is why I am supporting her,” said Floyd Griffin, a longtime Milledgeville civic leader.
The support extends beyond individual testimonials. The Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the national NAACP and the Baldwin County NAACP chapter have all rallied behind Cook in her legal fight.
Cook’s appointment to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 2022 represented a milestone in American financial leadership. The position, which helps guide the nation’s monetary policy, had never been held by a Black woman in the Fed’s more than 100-year history.
When Cook returned to Georgia College as the keynote speaker for last year’s graduation ceremony, she made sure to invite Worsham as her special guest — a gesture that speaks to the connections that still bind her to her Middle Georgia roots.
“I think everybody is so proud of her, just the way we are proud of Floyd Griffin. Anybody that excels in spite of all they have to go through,” Worsham said. “That’s the reason I want to know the stories of the people that grew up in Milledgeville on the other side of the street.”
As Cook’s court case proceeds, her supporters in Milledgeville remain unwavering in their belief that she deserves to keep the position she worked a lifetime to achieve.
“Lisa, keep pushing, sister. We’re here,” Edwards said.
Today, as Cook stands in federal court defending her right to serve, she carries with her not just her own accomplishments, but the hopes and pride of an entire community that helped shape the woman who would make history at the highest levels of American finance.