Mayor Steven Reed
As a proud son of a civil rights leader, Steven L. Reed grew up hearing stories about how his father integrated Montgomery lunch counters and took advice directly from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend Ralph Abernathy. However, it wasn’t until Reed was in the fourth grade and received a death threat against his father that he began to understand more fully the importance of the lessons his father was trying to impart. At this pivotal moment, his father explained, “My job is to prepare you to be a cross-bearer and not just a crown-wearer. Bigotry has no place in our household. It will only hold you down and make you small.”
Steven L. Reed was sworn in November 2019 as the 57th Mayor of the City of Montgomery, Alabama, a historic destination known globally as The Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. Mayor Reed is the first African American to hold the position.
A native of Montgomery, Mayor Reed is committed to realizing his vision of a more equitable, progressive, and compassionate city. To that end, he is advancing an agenda that addresses the community’s most pressing issues and puts Montgomery on track to become a leader in the New South.
Mayor Reed led the effort to increase funding for Montgomery’s public schools for the first time in nearly 30 years. In doing so, he organized a cross-community, broad, and diverse coalition of supporters, including faith and business leaders to educators, activists, and parents. This support was crucial to more adequately invest in education and ensure a brighter future for Montgomery.
Accomplished Public Servant & Leader
As a lifelong public servant and leader, Mayor Reed previously served as Montgomery County, Alabama’s first African-American and youngest elected Probate Judge. He expanded mental health services to some of Montgomery’s most vulnerable residents, improved the facilities of the Probate Court, and modernized the office to better serve the community. As Probate Judge, Mayor Reed served on the Department of Homeland Security’s Election Integrity Commission and initiated a statewide campaign to educate the public about new Voter ID laws. Even from this position, Mayor Reed led; he was the first probate judge in the state to grant same-sex marriage licenses following the Supreme Court ruling.
In his first year in office, Mayor Reed successfully led Montgomery through the once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that impacted all aspects of life. Amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and its sweeping effects on public and private sector budgets, Mayor Reed restructured the city government to increase efficiency and effectiveness while ensuring the City maintained a balanced budget without having to touch reserves, borrow money or initiate layoffs. As a result, bond rating agencies awarded Montgomery its best grades since the Great Recession.
In July 2021, Route Fifty named Mayor Reed on its inaugural list recognizing ten local leaders who are tackling some of the most pressing issues facing America’s cities. In 2020, Mayor Reed was named one of the ten most powerful and influential local officials by Yellowhammer News. That same year, Mitch Landrieu’s E Pluribus Unum (EPU) invited Mayor Reed to join its inaugural class of UNUM Fellows, a group of 14 accomplished and diverse Southern elected leaders who embarked on a year-long journey to address inequitable and discriminatory policies and practices within their communities.
In April 2021, Mayor Reed launched a new education technology initiative called MGM Codes. In collaboration with Montgomery Public Schools, the non-profit Ed Farm, and Apple, Mayor Reed’s initiative increases access to high-tech tools and teaching assets, helping advance innovation, creativity and outcomes for Montgomery middle school students. . Montgomery’s neighborhoods and infrastructure are central to Mayor Reed’s vision for a greater Montgomery. In the spring of 2021, Mayor Reed announced a plan to reinvest $50 million in Montgomery neighborhoods, community centers, public safety infrastructure and public transportation.
Mayor Reed received the Dr. Martin Luther King Leadership Award for Governmental Service and was chosen as a New Deal Leader, which selects leaders who are committed to innovative, progressive ideas. He was selected as one of 40 chief executives for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a program designed to equip mayors with innovative leadership and management tools to tackle complex challenges and improve the quality of life in their communities. Mayor Reed also serves on the National League of Cities Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, the Transportation and Communications Committee, and the Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports Committee of the United States Conference of Mayors.
The Atlantic, The New York Times, Esquire and The Guardian, among other publications, have featured Mayor Reed for his work to transform the narrative surrounding Montgomery and to protect residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic. He has appeared on programs like The Rachel Maddow Show, PBS Newshour, CNN New Day and CBS This Morning.
Not only answering a call to serve as chief executive, Mayor Reed has invested himself in his hometown through philanthropy and advocacy. An alumnus of Leadership Alabama, he has volunteered as a YMCA football coach and serves on the boards of the River Region United Way, the Metro Board of the Montgomery Area YMCA, Trustmark Bank, and Valiant Cross Academy. Mayor Reed is the Moderator at Community Congregational United Church of Christ, as well as an active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Mayor Reed is a proud graduate of the Montgomery Public School system. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Morehouse College and a Master of Business Administration degree from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. Mayor Reed and his wife Tamika are the proud parents of three children.
First, Best: Lessons in Leadership and Legacy from Today's Civil Rights Movement
The first Black mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, shares his story of making his way in a world that wasn’t built for him, drawing on his rich heritage as the son of a civil rights leader.
First, Best is an essential antidote to the perpetual dehumanization and distortions of Black men in our culture and media. By sharing the story of forging his own path, Reed offers an alternative narrative to Black men coming of age, catalyzing their hope and sense of possibility. Although Reed took a circuitous path to the office of mayor that began by forging his identity at Morehouse College, pursuing entrepreneurship and exploring the wider world, and serving as a probate judge, each step was guided by the values of his father’s generation. First, Best is not just about assuming the mantle of manhood or leadership, nor is it only about the expectation of greatness. Fundamentally, it’s about responsibility and preparation, serving others, and being willing to pay the price of leadership by carrying the weight of each decision. First, Best affirms the next generation of Black men and women by showing, through story and example, their power and potential in a world that doesn’t always root for them.
