Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms leaving White House position ‘to be with her family’

White House Media Briefing Held By Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre And Public Engagement Advisor Keisha Lance Bottoms WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 13: White House Public Engagement Advisor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks a press briefing at the White House on January 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. Bottoms spoke on the President's upcoming visit to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia for a Martin Luther King Jr. service. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is leaving her role at the White House.

President Joe Biden announced the departure Monday morning and said Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Stephen Benjamin will now serve as Senior Advisor and Director of the Office of Public Engagement for the White House.

Bottoms took on the role in June. The position “works at the local, state, and national levels to ensure community leaders, diverse perspectives, and new voices have the opportunity to inform the work of the President in an inclusive, transparent, and responsible way,” a news release said.

“Under Keisha’s leadership, the Office of Public Engagement has kept equity at the heart of our agenda and continues to serve as the connective tissue between our Administration and everyday Americans who may not have a voice to reach Washington otherwise,” Biden said in a statement. “I have leaned on Keisha as a close advisor with exceptional instincts, and I am grateful to her for serving our nation with honor and integrity. I wish her the best as she returns home to Atlanta to be with her family.”

Bottoms, who served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 through 2021, joined the Biden administration last summer to replace Cedric Richmond, a former Louisiana congressman who was Biden’s first Office of Public Engagement director as well as a close adviser.