About Us Featured Members

The youngest son of Elizabeth Bradford Glover and the late Clarence Ernest Glover Sr., Cedric Bradford Glover, is a lifelong resident of Shreveport, LA, and was educated in the public and private schools of Caddo Parish. Early on, Cedric's parents instilled in him and his siblings a sense of community and civic commitment.

These traits manifested themselves early in Cedric's life. He started, what, at that time was the only black Boy Scout Troop in the entire NORWELA Council area. He later served with the Volunteers of America Lighthouse program as a Program Coordinator. During this time, he was elected Treasurer of the Shreveport Chapter of the NAACP, and President of the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Club. 

As President of the MLK Civic Club, Cedric had an opportunity to lead and advance an entire neighborhood. At that time, the MLK area was beset by the twin scourges of crack cocaine and gang violence and void of any constructive activities for the community's young people. Cedric was active in efforts that culminated with the deployment of Operation THOR in the MLK area. Operation THOR, an acronym for Take, Hold, Organize, and Return, represents the largest mobilization of law enforcement in Northwest Louisiana history.

Prompted by the urging of many, Cedric offered himself as a candidate for the Shreveport City Council District A seat. In November of 1990, Cedric became the youngest individual ever elected to the Shreveport City Council. While on the City Council, he served terms as Council Chairman, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, and was selected as Public Official of the Year by the Shreveport Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. He also received the Louisiana Municipal Association's Community Achievement Award three times, as well as the Shreveport Negro Chamber of Commerce Political Achievement Award.

As Councilman, Cedric also secured more than thirty million dollars in capital construction dollars for his district, and increased the Parks and Recreation budget by 30 percent and declared war on liquor stores selling to minors, resulting in the first liquor license revocations in the City's history. He also championed and advanced the concept of Community Oriented Policing, at a time when most in law enforcement saw little value in it. During his tenure on the Council, he was a board member of the Greater Shreveport Economic Development Committee, Goodwill Industries, the Metropolitan YMCA, and became the youngest graduate of the Leadership Louisiana Program.

In October of 1995, Cedric was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. During that time, as a member of the House, he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus. He was also selected as Legislator of the Year by the Rural Caucus, and selected as Legislator of the Month by the Louisiana Municipal Association, Citizens Against Crime Inc. for instituting the first computer automated crime victim notification system in the entire state of Louisiana.

On November 7, 2006, Cedric B. Glover, made history as the first African American Mayor of his hometown, Shreveport, LA. He considers it an honor to serve as Mayor and strives daily to make Shreveport, ‘the next great city of the South’!'

Mayor Glover's official page can be found here.

Since his inauguration as Florida’s 44th Governor on January 2, 2007, Charlie Crist has worked to lower the cost of doing business and living in Florida, increase people’s access to government, strengthen Florida’s economy and ensure the safety and world-class education of Florida’s children.

Upon taking his oath as Governor, Governor Crist immediately established the Office of Open Government by Executive Order, in order to make government more accessible to the people it serves. Governor Crist also continues to address high property taxes and property insurance costs and works with both Democrats and Republicans in the Florida Legislature to work toward finding solutions to both issues.

Governor Crist is committed to ensuring the children of Florida have the resources and opportunities to realize their full potential. The Governor established the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness to educate and encourage Florida students about leading a healthy and active lifestyle. He also created the Children and Youth Cabinet and appointed a Chief Child Advocate to streamline the adoption process in Florida.

Governor Crist signed the Anti-Murder Act as the first law of the 2007 legislative session in order to ensure the safety of all Floridians. The Governor, the Florida fundraising campaign chair for the United Negro College Fund, introduced a change in the Rules of Executive Clemency that allows automatic restoration of human rights.

Governor Crist recognizes that Florida’s economy is linked to Florida’s natural environment and the Governor is committed to restoring America’s Everglades and addressing global climate change. In July 2007, Governor Crist hosted the Florida Summit on Global Climate Change in Miami and brought together scientists and experts from around the world to discuss the impact of greenhouse-gas emissions. At the summit, Governor Crist signed three Executive Orders outlining efforts to reduce carbon emissions and providing direction for Florida’s climate friendly initiatives.

In May and November, Governor Crist lead trade missions to Israel and Brazil. In Israel, Governor Crist worked toward completing a Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Florida and the government of the State of Israel on bilateral cooperation in private sector industrial research and development. In Brazil, Team Florida learned from its number-one international merchandise trade partner more about ethanol production from top experts in the field. Approximately $300 million was anticipated to come into Florida’s economy as a result of the trade mission.

Additional economic development achievements include the establishment of the Max Planck Institute of Bio-Imaging to be located on the campus of Florida Atlantic University; the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and the continued presence of AirTran headquarters in Orlando.

Governor Charlie Crist was born in 1956 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, but his family soon settled in St. Petersburg. As a public school student Governor Crist quickly learned the value of participation, leading him to serve as class president at St. Petersburg High School and, later, as student body vice president at Florida State University. In high school Governor Crist was the starting quarterback for his football team. He later played football at Wake Forest University before transferring and receiving his undergraduate degree from Florida State in 1978. Governor Crist then earned his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.

Governor Crist received invaluable experience in Florida’s criminal justice system while interning in the State Attorney’s Office before accepting a position as general counsel for the minor league division of the Baseball Commissioner’s Office. Governor Crist began his government service as state director for former U.S. Senator Connie Mack before later returning to the private practice of law with the Tampa firm of Wood and Crist.

In 1992, Governor Crist won a seat in the Florida Senate. For six years in the Senate, Governor Crist served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and as Chairman of the Appropriations Criminal Justice Subcommittee. A strong voice for public safety, he sponsored, among other legislation, the Stop Turning Out Prisoners (STOP) bill requiring prisoners to serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentences. This earned him numerous honors, including appointment as an Honorary Sheriff by the Florida Sheriffs Association—only the third person to receive the honor in the organization’s long history.

After Governor Crist completed his Senate service, Governor Jeb Bush appointed him as Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. In 2000, Governor Crist won a special election and became Florida’s last elected Commissioner of Education. Governor Crist’s path of public service next led him to seek election as Attorney General in 2002. He carried the general election by more than one-third of a million votes to become Florida’s first elected Republican Attorney General.

On November 7, 2006, Governor Charlie Crist was elected to serve as Florida’s Governor. Governor Crist is a lifelong member of the St. Petersburg Chapter of the NAACP.

Jennifer M. Granholm was elected the 47th governor of the State of Michigan in November 2002. She successfully resolved over $4 billion in budget deficits, trimming more from state government than any governor in Michigan’s history. A fiscal hawk, Granholm worked to ensure that state government spent every penny efficiently, while aggressively pursuing her top priorities: growing Michigan’s economy and maintaining the state’s high quality of life.

Granholm focused on improving Michigan’s economy through a comprehensive plan – her Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow plan. Her economic agenda included creating thousands of jobs for Michigan workers by accelerating infrastructure projects, training unemployed workers for high-demand jobs, and by diversifying Michigan’s economy through the unprecedented $2 billion 21st Century Jobs for Michigan Fund. The fund was created to help diversify Michigan’s economy in key industries including the life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security and defense technology. Governor Granholm also reduced the red tape that businesses face when seeking permits from the state.

Governor Granholm’s administration helped to create and retain some 331,000 jobs. She met face-to-face with businesses from across the country and around the world – and her leadership paid off. Two trade missions to Japan resulted in more than 1,000 new jobs and more than $200 million in new investment from Japanese companies.

Direct action by Governor Granholm's administration convinced major corporations to create jobs and expand in Michigan. Keebler relocated its headquarters from Illinois to Battle Creek. Toyota put 400 people to work in York Township at its new Technical Center. And when manufacturing jobs left Greenville for Mexico, Governor Granholm stepped in and helped convince United Solar Ovonic to open a new manufacturing facility there.

Michigan was cited by Governing magazine (February 2005) as an outstanding leader in its Government Performance Project (GPP) report titled, "Grading the States 2005." The nationwide report card gave Michigan and the Granholm administration high marks in the areas of money, people, infrastructure, and information management. Only Virginia and Utah scored higher than Michigan.

Governor Granholm’s focus on families meant extending affordable prescription drug coverage and health care coverage to more than 292,000 Michigan families. Granholm saved the state nearly $40 million in 2003 when she introduced the nation's first bulk-buying pool for prescription drugs; and then she extended those savings to citizens by introducing the MiRx Card, which provides discount prescription drugs to uninsured families. Since 2003, Granholm has also enrolled nearly 50,000 additional children for health insurance through the Healthy Kids and MiCHILD programs. In 2006, Governor Granholm signed into law legislation that increases Michigan’s minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.95 per hour in October 2007, and up to $7.40 per hour in July 2008 – the first increase in Michigan’s minimum wage in nine years.

Despite tough fiscal times, Granholm increased spending for Michigan’s public schools. In 2005, for the first time, classrooms in Michigan received record funding at levels promised by the previous administration. The first in her family to attend college, Granholm also championed universal access to higher education. She successfully challenged state universities to hold the line on tuition increases and has proposed a first-in-the-nation program that would award $4,000 to every Michigan student who completes two years of post-secondary education.

Granholm began her career in public service as a clerk for U.S. Judge Damon Keith on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. She considers Judge Keith a mentor to this day. In 1990, Granholm became a federal prosecutor in Detroit, where she maintained a 98 percent conviction rate. In 1994, Granholm was appointed Wayne County Corporation Counsel. She worked to reduce taxpayer-funded lawsuit payouts by 87 percent.

Elected Michigan’s first female Attorney General in 1998, Granholm continued her fight to protect Michigan’s citizens and consumers. She established the state’s first High Tech Crime Unit to prosecute Internet crimes. Following the September 11th attacks on the United States, Granholm led a multi-agency effort to ensure that Michigan laws could effectively be used to fight terrorism at the state level. In the wake of the attacks, she also cracked down on gas stations gouging consumers at the pump. As Attorney General, Granholm also started a successful statewide mentoring initiative.

Granholm was elected by the people of Michigan to serve as their first woman chief executive on November 6, 2002.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Granholm is an honors graduate of both the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She served as Vice Chair of the Democratic Governors Association and Chair of the National Governor’s Association Health and Human Services Committee. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, have three children.

Born on November 23, 1945, to James E. Doyle Sr. and Ruth Bachhuber Doyle, James Doyle and his three sisters grew up in Madison. Doyle is married to Jessica Laird Doyle and they have two adult sons, Gus and Gabe. 

His parents were founding members of the modern Democratic Party in Wisconsin and he credits them for instilling in him the belief that politics and government are honorable professions, and that public service is a way to improve people’s lives.

Former Governor Doyle attended Stanford University for three years, then finished his senior year at UW-Madison. He is a 1972 graduate of Harvard Law School.

Inspired by John F. Kennedy’s call to public service, after college Jim and his wife worked for two years as teachers in Tunisia, Africa in the Peace Corps. After he graduated from law school, he and Jessica moved to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Chinle, Arizona to work as an attorney and teacher, respectively.

In 1976, Doyle was elected Dane County District Attorney and served three terms from 1977-82. When he left that office, he spent eight years building his own private law practice until he was elected Wisconsin Attorney General in 1990. He was reelected as Attorney General in 1994 and 1998.

Doyle was elected as Wisconsin’s Governor in 2002 and reelected in 2006 with more votes than any candidate for Governor in Wisconsin history.

Mayor Kasim Reed was inaugurated as the City of Atlanta’s 59th Mayor on January 4, 2010.  Since taking office, Mayor Reed has worked to improve public safety, create new opportunities for the City’s youth, restore fiscal stability to the City and provide faster and more efficient customer service to residents.

Prior to his election, Mayor Reed established a track record of leadership during his 11 years as a member of the Georgia General Assembly.  He was first elected in 1998 as a State Representative and served two terms. From 2002-2009, he served in the Georgia State Senate, where he was Vice Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

As an undergraduate member of Howard University's Board of Trustees, he created a fundraising program that has contributed more than $10 million to the school’s endowment since its inception.  Mayor Reed was appointed as Howard University's youngest General Trustee in June 2002 and remains a member of the Board of Trustees.

Mayor Reed is Chair of the Transportation and Communications Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Chair of the Regional Transit Committee of the Atlanta Regional Commission. He is a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 2000 and Leadership Atlanta Class of 1998, and was named to the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowship Class of 2007. Mayor Reed is also a former Board Member of both the National Black Arts Festival and Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund.

His civic leadership and service have been nationally recognized in publications such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Ebony and Black Enterprise.

Mayor Reed grew up in the Cascade community of Atlanta, where he attended Utoy Springs Elementary School and Westwood High School (now Westlake High School). He is a graduate of Howard University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees. Mayor Reed also is a former partner of Holland and Knight LLP, an international law firm with offices in Atlanta.

Mayor Reed's official page can be found here.

Born in 1963, Martin O’Malley spent his childhood in Bethesda and Rockville, learning about the fundamental importance of public service from his parents, Tom and Barbara O’Malley.  He attended the University of Maryland School of Law, and later became Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, a member of the Baltimore City Council, and eventually Mayor of Baltimore City. 

Martin O’Malley is a fearless, intelligent public servant.  As Mayor of Baltimore City, he helped bring communities together to build a safer, cleaner and healthier city.  Now, as Governor of the State of Maryland, he is applying his knowledge, experience and energy to making State government work again for the people. Martin O’Malley’s administration has been credited with “accomplishing more in one year than most administrations accomplish in four,” and he is driven by a belief that all citizens share certain core values and goals, and works tirelessly to unite the State as One Maryland. 

Martin and his wife Katie, a District Court Judge, have two daughters, Grace and Tara, and two sons William and Jack. They are members of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.

Martin O'Malley's official page can be found here.

On January 29, 2009, Pat Quinn was sworn in as the 41st Governor of the State of Illinois. Governor Quinn has served the people of Illinois for more than a quarter of a century - both as a citizen and a public official. He has organized grassroots petition drives signed by more than four million voters; walked across the state in support of decent healthcare for all; proposed historic tax reform for working families; increased consumer protections; and given Illinois’ residents a strong voice in government.

Job creation has been one of Governor Quinn’s top priorities. He passed Illinois Jobs Now! - the state’s first capital plan in over a decade. The plan will invest $31 billion in Illinois’ economy, creating and retaining more than 439,000 jobs over six years.

As Governor, Quinn has focused on restoring ethics to state government. Since taking office he has passed a constitutional amendment to allow recall of a Governor and signed into law the first ever limits on campaign contributions in Illinois.

Governor Quinn is an advocate for consumers, taxpayers, and servicemembers and their families. He has spearheaded countless initiatives that foster a cleaner environment and encourage economic development in historic business districts and rural communities. Governor Quinn has rallied residents to support the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, which he created in 2003 to support our servicemembers and veterans.

Governor Quinn served as State Treasurer from 1991 through 1995. His Linked Deposit program helped more than 25,000 Illinois families and businesses obtain $2 billion in bank loans to support affordable housing, small business expansion and agriculture. A longtime consumer advocate, Governor Quinn launched the 1983 drive to create the Citizens Utility Board, an organization that supports safe, reliable and affordable utility service.

In 1976, Governor Quinn led the largest petition drive in state history, ending the century-old practice of allowing Illinois legislators to collect their entire salary on their first day in office. In 1980, he organized the Cutback Amendment to reduce the size of the Illinois General Assembly — the first and only Illinois constitutional amendment ever adopted by citizen initiative.

Governor Quinn was born in Hinsdale and graduated from Fenwick High School, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Northwestern University School of Law. He was elected commissioner of the Cook County Board of (Tax) Appeals in 1982, served as the City of Chicago's revenue director and was a member of a local school council. Governor Quinn has two sons.

Governor Quinn's official page can be found here.

R.T. Rybak was first elected Mayor of Minneapolis in 2001 in his first run for public office and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2005 to serve another term for the people of Minneapolis.

Mayor Rybak took office facing a post-9/11 budget crisis and deep state and federal budget cuts. He responded by implementing innovative fiscal reforms that saved taxpayers millions by reducing $80 million of inherited debt, reigning in government spending and producing six balanced budgets in four years.

Rybak’s other accomplishments include recruiting Allina and the Global Market to the Midtown Exchange, closing the City’s employment gap, creating 2,500 new housing units in three years with the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, growing the police department by 100 officers in the last two years and launching the innovative Minneapolis 311 phone system.

Mayor Rybak is now leading efforts to revitalize north Minneapolis, attack juvenile crime, make Minneapolis a wireless city, end homelessness in ten years, and significantly reduce the City’s energy consumption to combat global climate change.

Mayor Rybak is a lifelong Minneapolis resident and the son of a pharmacist in the Phillips neighborhood. Rybak currently lives in the East Harriet neighborhood of Minneapolis with his wife, Megan, and their two children Grace and Charlie.

Mayor Rybak truly believes that Minneapolis has the potential to become the great American city of our time and his Great City Agenda to achieve that vision includes making Minneapolis a place to live, preparing the next generation through the Minneapolis Promise, creating great public spaces by reweaving the urban fabric, closing the gaps between haves and have-nots and running the City government well, but running it for a reason.

Mayor Rybak's official page can be found here.

Russ Johnson was elected to serve the residents of Kansas City’s Second District in March 2007. He has served as the Chairman of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and as a member of the Finance & Audit Committee, and currently serves on the Public Safety & Neighborhoods Committee. 

Russ is committed to fiscal discipline, improving infrastructure, and ensuring the City efficiently provides basic services and good customer service to its citizens. 

Russ has worked on transportation issues for many years, pursuing innovative financing mechanisms to move local and regional projects forward. While chairing the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Russ completed the capital budgeting process earlier than ever before, allowing the City to take advantage of spring weather and begin resurfacing and other critical projects without delay. He also guided the City towards receiving more than $40 million in federal economic recovery transportation infrastructure funds. These awards include the $25 million TIGER grant, which was the 8th largest grant in the country. These funds were awarded as a result of a regional grant application process spearheaded by his committee. 

As a member of the Finance & Audit Committee, Russ successfully pushed for improvements to the City’s reserve fund, and also succeeded in instilling fiscal discipline into the City’s financial planning process. 

Russ also aggressively pursues transportation improvements within the 2nd district. He led an effort with City staff, the Missouri Department of Transportation, and private property owners to find a solution to increasing congestion on NW 64th Street at I-29. This effort secured transportation development funds to dramatically alter the configuration of that interchange, and commercial property owners have agreed to participate in the plan for a private transportation district, which will provide key funding for the project. This solution is a model of the types of private-public partnerships that Russ emphasizes, in which private entities and government come together to solve problems in a cooperative way. 

Russ brings a strong history of public service and citizen involvement to his role on the Council. A supporter of trails in the metro region, he co-founded the KCMO/Platte County Trails Committee and co-chaired the Steering Committee for the Line Creek Valley Development Plan, which won the Plan of the Year Award from the Missouri American Planning Association in 2008. As Councilman, he continues to promote regional trail resources to promote recreational opportunities in the metro and oversaw the establishment of Kansas City’s Trails Plan as Chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. 

Prior to his election, he served on the Public Improvement Advisory Committee (PIAC), which is charged with soliciting public input and making recommendations to the Council regarding its capital budget. In 2007, as Councilman, Russ co-chaired with Councilwoman Circo the City’s efforts to renew the capital improvements sales tax. Voters overwhelming approved a 10-year extension to the 1-cent tax, showing support for the capital planning efforts and the PIAC process. 

Russ is a member of the National League of Cities Transportation Infrastructure and Services Steering Committee and a charter member of the National Multi-Modal Transportation Steering Committee.

Locally, he has been a member of the Downtown Council and the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the Board of Directors for the Citizens Association and the Downtowners. 

Russ is a member of St. Therese Catholic Church, and lives with his family in Platte County.

Russ Johnson's official page can be found here.

Steven L. Beshear was elected governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in November 2007.

An attorney by profession, Gov. Beshear has a long background in public service, having served as a state representative in the Kentucky General Assembly, attorney general and lieutenant governor prior to being elected governor.

To each of these positions he has brought a foundation of integrity and ethics, as well as a deeply felt commitment to improving the lives of fellow Kentuckians.

During three terms as state representative, Beshear helped modernize the Kentucky Judicial System and proposed legislation that resulted in the modernization and more than doubling of neo-natal capacities at the University of Kentucky Hospital.

As attorney general, Beshear saved countless taxpayer dollars by successfully cracking down on statewide food stamp fraud and pursued several controversial investigations involving state government employees.

As lieutenant governor, Beshear helped push for reform of the child welfare system. He also created and spearheaded the Kentucky Tomorrow Commission, a strategic planning initiative that identified daunting challenges facing the state then and far into the future.

After taking nearly two decades off to practice law, Beshear entered a crowded field in the governor’s race and beat the incumbent.

As governor, Beshear has helped restore public trust by creating a culture of integrity in state government that has included rooting out cronyism and implementing stronger ethics standards. He has also streamlined spending with a trimming of the state workforce, implemented a more efficient way of designing and building roads and won bipartisan support for a complex reform of the beleaguered public pension system.

Despite inheriting an austere budget and a struggling economy, he has focused on initiatives to help Kentucky families. These have included expanding efforts to bring health coverage to 35,000 uninsured children, designing a plan to bring prescription drugs to those who can’t afford them, securing “bridge” funding to save Kentucky’s student loan agency and calling for a new analysis on higher education affordability and access.

Gov. Beshear is a native of Dawson Springs in Hopkins County, Ky., where he was one of five children of a Baptist minister and a mother dedicated to her community.

Beshear has a bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of Kentucky, where he was president of the student body. He also served as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he also carried out certain Judge Advocate General duties.

He and his wife, Jane, have been married since 1969. They own a small farm in Clark County.

They have two sons — Jeff, a veterinarian; and Andy, an attorney — and three grandchildren.

Beshear has long been deeply involved in the community, and his various civic activities include such organizations as CommerceLexington Inc., the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, God's Pantry Food Bank, Bluegrass Tomorrow, the Kentucky World Trade Center, and the UK College of Law Visiting Committee.

Governor Beshear's official page can be found here.