Photo above: Dr. Jackie McMorris on her appointment as county manager in 2020 (Larry Johnson/Cobb County Courier)
By Mark Woolsey
Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris has been named the 2026 Woman of Distinction in Cobb.
McMorris was conferred the annual award by the Cobb Executive Women, a part of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, as part of their regular Marquee Monday event.
The chamber says the annual award is designed to showcase a woman who has demonstrated outstanding leadership through professional endeavors, social responsibility and outreach into the community.
The manager has checked all those boxes-and then some-after joining the county in 2013 and becoming deputy county manager.
She was promoted to the top job in 2020, just at the outset of the Covid-19 crisis. McMorris won praise for her balancing act ensuring a reasoned approach to the pandemic.
Also during the pandemic, McMorris was credited with helping spearhead a program that led to small businesses and nonprofits snagging some $50 million in aid.
Her handprints have been on a broad range of nonprofit and social services during her tenure, ranging from Habitat for Humanity to the Cobb Family Advocacy Center, which she helped establish.
The manager oversees a large and complex government, with a $1.3 billion budget and more than 5,000 employees.
She’s broken new ground as the first black female to serve as manager.