Vi Lyles

Lyles was raised in Columbia, South Carolina.[2] Her father owned his own construction company and her mother worked as a teacher.[3] She earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science from Queens University of Charlotte and a Master of Public Administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[4]

Lyles worked for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, as a budget analyst, budget director, and assistant city manager. Starting in 2004, she worked as a consulting director for the Lee Institute and then for Flynn Heath Holt Leadership.[2] She was the community outreach director for the 2012 Democratic National Convention.[3]

Lyles was elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2013,[5] and was elected mayor pro-tem in 2015.[6] Following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in September 2016, she proposed a seven-point plan to reduce racial and class divisions in the city, parts of which were approved by the council.[7]

Lyles ran for mayor of Charlotte in the 2017 election. She defeated Jennifer Roberts, the incumbent mayor, in the Democratic Party primary election in September 2017[8] and defeated Kenny Smith, a Republican member of the city council, in the November general election. She is the first African-American female mayor of the city,[6] and also its first former city administrator to serve as mayor.[3]

Lyles was married to John Lyles for 17 years prior to his death in 2013.[9] Lyles has two children, Kwame and Aisha Alexander, as well as two stepchildren, Sean and John Lyles Jr.[10] She lives in the SouthPark neighborhood in Charlotte.[11]

• List of mayors of the 50 largest cities in the United States

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vi Lyles.

• Profile at Vote Smart