Georgia Nell Woodley

Georgia Woodley was a member of the Historical Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Institutional Church, Inc., where she served as Church Secretary for 40 years and Administrative Assistant for five years.

Inspired by her mentor Revered Nathaniel G. Staggers, who was a member of the NAACP, Georgia joined the Orange County Branch of the NAACP and served as secretary and one of the Vice Presidents. In 1962, Georgia was one of the seven plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against Orange County Public Schools to desegregate.

In 1974, Georgia was the catalyst for organizing the Callahan Neighborhood Association, Inc. (CNA), which was the first voluntary Neighborhood Association in the City of Orlando. She was President for 25 years. One of her early leadership initiatives was to galvanize her neighbors to get the City of Orlando to provide a proper sewer system and pave roads in the Callahan neighborhood. Subsequently, the CNA and City of Orlando Police Department turned their focus to crime reduction and prevention to create a safer neighborhood, which they believed would inspire home ownership in their community. Ms. Woodley then led her neighbors to lobby the City of Orlando to build the Dr. J.B. Callahan Neighborhood Center where youth could participate in after-school programs and seniors could host community events.