Dublin native Angie Tracey comes home to promote new book

In 1989, Angie Hammock Tracey was looking for an opportunity to return to Georgia. After a decade of working in Washington, D.C., she knew it was time for a change.

“I was getting homesick,” the now 71-year-old said. 

With an impressive resume that included woking for the Reagan White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she was able to land a job at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1990. Working for the agency was a dream come true for the communications veteran, who served more than two decades with the CDC, but she began to notice something about the staff and leadership.

“CDC is a very apolitical, scientific and academic agency,” Tracey reminisced. “That started to reflect on how the employees treated each other. There was a lack of compassion and empathy for each other.” 

To change the culture of the workplace, Tracey founded  the   Christian Fellowship Group, the U.S. government’s first Christian employee association in 2001, just months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The CDC would play a major role in the aftermath at both the World Trade Center and Pentagon, with agents and staff screening the attack sites for chemical and biological weapons, hazardous material and other dangers. 

“The CDC played a major role in the recovery,” Tracey said. “God gave birth to our association at the right time. People were really seeking God during that time.”  

The Christian Fellowship Group would support workers during that time and beyond, helping the staff navigate their daily duties and deal with workplace conflict. 

Tracey retired from the agency in 2014. She recently penned a book about her time at the CDC, “On Fire! At Work: Igniting Faith and Ministry in the Workplace,” sharing the story of her experience and encouraging others to express their faith at work. 

“This is the true testimony of how God transformed by work place,” she said. “The book gives a step by step of how to do what we did in every setting from a small business to Fortune 100, international companies.” 

Tracey is returning to her native Dublin this month for several events to share her story. She will be the guest speaker for the Christian Women’s Connection and the Women After Five groups on Sept. 17 and she will hold a book signing event at The Olive Branch on Sept. 26.

Tracey’s time at the CDC and with the Christian group was not all without controversy. The association faced legal challenges as well as a petition for it to be rejected, all of which failed. 

“God just smoothed the path as only he could do,” she said. 

Tracey’s career began as an intern at the Macon NBC station. An absent anchor paved the way for her to be on an on-screen personality while she was still earning her degree at Mercer University.

Tracey’s father, Jim Hammock, was no stranger to the public eye. The Dublin businessman and player in the state government introduced her to politics at a young age. She went to the nation’s capitol to work as an aide to Georgia Congressman Billy Evans. 

Evans, who would later lose his seat to Dublin’s J. Roy Rowland, chaired the U.S. House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Tracey would develop a passion for combating drug abuse that got the attention of First Lady Nancy Reagan, who made raising awareness on the issue her top priority during her husband’s administration.  

She would serve throughout President Ronald Reagan’s two terms in several roles including Head of Prevention for the White House and director of the First Lady’s Just Say No program. 

Details of Tracey’s appearances have not been finalized. For more information visit www.angietracey.com.