Cavalier Johnson
Mayor of Milwaukee
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
8:00AM-9:00am
In April of 2022, Mayor Cavalier Johnson was elected the 45th chief executive of the City of Milwaukee winning with more than 70% of the vote. A 36-year-old Milwaukee native, Johnson is the first Black Mayor elected in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest and most diverse city.
We’re getting up close and personal with Mayor Johnson, one of the city’s most powerful Millennials. He’ll talk about his career path, the bright future and challenges he faces leading Milwaukee, and his thoughts on what we all can do to help realize the city’s potential.
SPEAKER BIO

After having served several months as Acting Mayor, Mayor Cavalier Johnson handily won election as the forty-fifth chief executive of the City of Milwaukee. He is the first Black Mayor elected in the city, and only the fourth elected mayor in the past sixty-two years.
Mayor Johnson grew up in Milwaukee’s 53026 zip code, which is known for having the highest incarceration rate of African American males out of any zip code in the country. He has seen violence, evictions, food insecurity — challenges common in urban poverty. He brings that lived experience to his work as Mayor.
In 2009, Mayor Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and returned home to work for the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB), now Employ Milwaukee.
In 2016, Johnson became the Alderman of the 2nd District on the Milwaukee Common Council. Before his election as Alderman, he served as a staff assistant in the Mayor’s Office, where he worked with community and faith leaders to find creative solutions to pressing issues facing families.
Mayor Johnson remains deeply committed to the community, having served on the boards of the Milwaukee YMCA, ACLU-Wisconsin and Milwaukee Community Brainstorming Conference.
He and his wife, Dominique, have one son and twin daughters and live on Milwaukee’s north side.