Mayor Tishaura O. Jones
With a deep personal commitment, a wealth of experience, and a proven record of leadership, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones started her career as a public servant in 2002 when she was appointed as Democratic Committeewoman of the 8th Ward in the City of St. Louis. She served two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives and became the first African-American woman in state history to hold the position of Assistant Minority Floor Leader.
From financial empowerment to the modernizing of services, Jones has worked to make city government easier to navigate, easier to participate in, and easier to understand. Elected the first African-American woman as Treasurer in 2012, Jones helped the City of St. Louis earn and save more than $30 million during her tenure in the office. Jones launched the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) to help St. Louisans make better financial choices, and OFE’s College Kids Program has helped over 18,000 public school students start saving through educational savings accounts.
After becoming the first mayor in decades to be born, raised, and still live in North St. Louis, Jones recognizes that St. Louis cannot succeed if one half is allowed to fail. She is working to reverse decades of disinvestment in neighborhoods by ensuring incentive agreements contain community benefits while responsibly investing nearly $500 million from the American Rescue Plan. Through data-driven deployment strategies, alternative responses to conserve police resources, and investment in community violence intervention programs, she is committed to improving public safety in the city.
Jones has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Hampton University and a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health. A graduate of the Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, she has served as Vice President of Public Finance for Blaylock Robert Van, LLC, as well as adjunct faculty at the Anheuser-Busch School of Business at Harris-Stowe State University. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., her dedication to public service has earned her numerous accolades including awards from the St. Louis Coalition for Human Rights, the RCGA, and the Lupus Foundation of America. She is also the proud mother of Aden.