Victoria Woodards

Mayor Victoria Woodards of Tacoma, Washington serves as the President of the National League of Cities (NLC). She was elected mayor in 2018. Mayor Woodards has called the “City of Destiny” her home for almost her entire life. She is a proud graduate of Tacoma’s Lincoln High School and has served as a soldier in the United States Army. Before becoming mayor, she served for seven years as an at-large member of the City Council. During that time, she launched the City’s Equity and Empowerment initiative which led to the establishment of its Office of Equity and Human Rights. She also brought partner organizations together for then President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative and spearheaded the City’s Project PEACE initiative which bridged community members with the Tacoma Police Department. In Mayor Woodards’ first term, she continues to be a champion of these important issues while expanding her involvement in regional and national conversations on affordable housing, transportation, strengthening youth and families, public safety, growing local business, and the creation of family wage jobs. She has also worked to more fully engage the City’s youth in community decisions that impact them every day, by expanding Student Government Day and establishing the City’s first Youth Commission.