Danita Poston Knowles was born in Louisiana, the daughter of a minister. She has lived in Douglan Georgia for 23 years. After graduating from Mississippi College with a degree in education, she began her teaching career in Georgia. Danita went on to advanced studies at Valdosta State University. She earned two Master of Education degrees--one in middle childhood education and one in counseling. She received her georgia certification in educational leadership and completed the Educational Specialist degree. She is now retired after 29 years as a public educator.
Danita has been active in social volunteerism for years, developing one of the earliest "crisis closets" in Douglas, Georgia. In coordination with the Coffee County Department of Family and Children, she taught a parenting class on the Coffee Junior High campus. As a school counselor, she found many outlets to help others--the Coffee County Family Connection Program, Coffee County Council for Child Abuse, in both the Outreach Committee and as an adult Sunday School teacher of Douglas First United Methodist Church. She currently serves as Social Action chair of the United Methodist Women of Douglas First Methodist and of the Waycross District United Methodist Women.
In her professional career, she was active and held office in a number of organizations, such as the Georgia School Counselors Association, the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International (in which she is still active), Coffee Association of Educators, and the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE). In GAE, she was elected to its state governing board for 1988-91 and state vice president, 1992-94.
Danita became active in Georgia politics in the mid 1980s, working for candidates from the local to the national level. Currently, she works as the chair of the Coffee County Democrats, 1st Congressional Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, and the secretary of the Georgia Association of Democratic County Chairs. She is anxious to relinquish some of those duties when elected .
She is married to Jim Knowles. They have a blended family of six adult children, four grandchildren, and another expected in October.
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The District: The 169th District is centered upon Douglas, the county seat of Coffee County. Other small communities in the district are Ambrose, Broxton, Nichols, and Westgreen in Coffee County and Pearson and Willacoochee in Atkinson County. In addition to these two counties, there is one rural precinct in Jeff Davis County.
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