Mayor Levar M. Stoney

Levar M. Stoney is serving his second term as the 80th mayor of the City of Richmond and is the youngest person to hold the office. He is an Advisory Board member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, where he chairs the Children, Health and Human Services committee. He also serves as President of the Democratic Mayors Association. 

Mayor Stoney was raised in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia by his father, who was a custodian, and his grandmother. A product of Virginia public schools, he grew up on free and reduced lunch and was the first in his family to earn a high school diploma. He went on to graduate from James Madison University, earning a B.S. in Public Administration and Political Science. 

After graduation, Mayor Stoney settled in the capital city to pursue his passion for public service, beginning his career serving in then-Governor Mark Warner's office. He rose through the ranks to serve as the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia in 2008 and then as Deputy Campaign Manager for Governor Terry McAuliffe's successful gubernatorial campaign in 2013. In 2014, Mayor Stoney became the first African American Secretary of the Commonwealth and the youngest member of Governor McAuliffe's cabinet.

Mayor Stoney believes the government can play a powerful role as a creator of opportunity for all residents.

Mayor Stoney was named the Richmond Times-Dispatch 2016 Person of the Year. He is a Rodel Leadership Institute Fellow, a member of the New Deal Leaders network, a Mayor’s Institute on City Design Fellow, a Daniel Rose Land Use Fellow, a Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative participant and the inaugural Chair of the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger. He is also a lifetime member of the N.A.A.C.P. and a board member of the local non-profit Great Aspirations Scholarship Program (GRASP).