Meet Ivy

Georgia Native

Ivy Adams Oxendine has the kind of homegrown values that comes from someone having strong roots in Georgia.

Ivy is the daughter of two native Georgians - Jeanette Adams Daniel and the late attorney Louis Adams, who served as a paratrooper in the army. Ivy's parents grew up on family farms in South Georgia and instilled in her the value of hard work which she has illustrated throughout her life. She was born in Albany's Phoebe Putney Hospital, and her family lived in her childhood home on Ardmore Lane for 18 years.

Ivy continued her education at Mercer University in Macon, where both her father and future husband were educated.  She entered the school as the winner of a Trustee Scholarship and majored in English with a minor in Secondary Education.

Involved

During her college years, Ivy discovered a unique way to employ her aptitude for the performing arts and in 1993, she was crowned "Miss Macon." That same year Ivy volunteered with Macon Outreach's homeless ministry and received the Macon Sertoma Service to Mankind Award for her volunteerism.

Upon completing her education at Mercer, Ivy started her corporate career as a sales representative with a Fortune 500 company where her work received the attention of top company executives and numerous performance awards.

Inspired

Ivy later met and married John Oxendine who was then serving as Georgia's Insurance Commissioner.  The Oxendines have four children - J.W., Philip, Caroline, and Baby Jake.

Ivy volunteers with a variety of local service organizations focused on the needs of children and women, including the Junior League of Gwinnett and North Fulton.  She is active in the Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church and serves on the regional board for Operation Hope, where she focuses on financial literacy for children as well the organization's "5 Million Kids" initiative.

As Georgia's First Lady, Ivy will focus on two major social concerns: the needs of foster children and the treatment of our mentally ill and those with special needs. As a mother of four children, she believes that the way we treat others is an indicator of who we are as a people.