Lightfoot, Lori E. (Lori Elaine), 1962-

Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the 56th Mayor of Chicago, Illinois since 2019. Lightfoot is the second woman and third African American to hold the office. She is the first openly lesbian African American woman to be elected mayor of a major city in the United States.

Born in Massillon, Ohio, she graduated from Washington High School there before earning a B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago School of Law. After graduating law school, Lightfoot became a practicing attorney at the Mayer Brown law firm, serving a wide cross-section of clients. Lightfoot first entered the public sector as Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. In 2002, Lightfoot was appointed chief administrator of the Chicago Police Department Office of Professional Standards, a now-defunct governmental police oversight group, by Police Superintendent Terry Hillard. She held the position for two years. In the position, she was in charge of investigating possible cases of police misconduct, including police shootings of civilians. Lightfoot then moved on to work in the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications and was hired by Mayor Richard M. Daley as deputy chief of the Chicago Department of Procurement Services. Returning to Mayer Brown, Lightfoot served as a senior equity partner in the Litigation and Conflict Resolution Group there.

Lightfoot returned to the public sector in 2015, when Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed her to replace 19-year incumbent Demetrius Carney as president of the Chicago Police Board. Re-appointed for a second term in 2017, she resigned from the Police Board in May 2018, just before announcing her mayoral campaign. On May 10, 2018, Lightfoot announced her candidacy for Mayor of Chicago in the 2019 elections, her first-ever run for public office. Lightfoot was the first openly lesbian candidate in the history of Chicago mayoral elections. Lightfoot finished first in the February 2019 election, in what was considered to be an upset. Lightfoot won the runoff election on April 2, 2019, becoming mayor-elect of Chicago.

Since assuming office following her historic election, Mayor Lightfoot has undertaken an ambitious agenda of expanding opportunity and inclusive economic growth across Chicago’s neighborhoods and communities, with early accomplishments including landmark ethics and good governance reforms, worker protection legislation, and closing a record $838 million budget gap, as well as key investments in education, public safety and financial stability. Mayor Lightfoot also placed Chicago on the path to a $15 minimum wage by 2021. In response to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, Mayor Lightfoot has led a coordinated, citywide response across government, business, and community organizations to effectively address its spread and broader public impact, including the creation of the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, among other actions.