Background
Juanita Powell Baranco was born in Washington, District of Columbia
Juanita Powell Baranco was born in Washington, District of Columbia
Louisiana State University.
She has been noted for breaking "race and gender barriers" in Georgia. Raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Baranco earned her high school diploma and continued her studies earning her Bachelor of Surgery degree and her Juris Doctor degree from Louisiana State University. Baranco practiced a successful career before becoming the Assistant Attorney General for the state of Georgia.
lieutenant was one of the first African American owned car dealerships in the metropolitan Atlanta area.
In the 1980s, the recession almost destroyed their business, and barely made it through the economic recession. That effort led the Barancos to also owning several other car dealerships including Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead and several Acura dealerships.
During her time at the dealership, she has had to fight gender-bias and sexism. She was appointed by Governor Zell Miller to the Board of Regents and in 1995 became the first African American women to chair the board.
She is the chair of the Board of Trustees of Clark Atlanta University and also serves on the Board of Directors of Georgia Power Company.
As a chair of Georgia"s Board of Regents, she opposed dismantling educational programs that included race and affirmative action. During her time on the board, she was considered a "no-nonsense leader" by Black Issues in Higher Education. She was inducted into the Georgia State University Business Hall of Fame.
Baranco has been featured in Essence magazine as one of best businesswomen in Atlanta and was also a finalist for the 2003 Time magazine Quality Dealer Award.
In 2015, she was listed as one of Georgia"s 100 Most Influential Women.
Baranco"s extensive involvement in education has led her to serve as the chairman of the DeKalb County Education Task Force and as a member of the Georgia State Board of Education from 1985 to 1991. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the State Bar Associations of Georgia and Louisiana. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.