Mitra Jalali (born 1986) is the City Council President and the Council Member for Ward 4 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.[1][2] She became the first Iranian-American elected official in Minnesota when she was elected to the Saint Paul City Council in 2018.[3]

Early life and career

Jalali was born to immigrant parents in Minnesota. Her father, Hossein Jalali, came to the U.S. from Iran as a high school exchange student in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1978, when he was 16 years old.[3] Her mother was adopted from South Korea by a family in Owatonna, Minnesota.[4] Her parents met in college.[4]

Jalali's father organizes the annual Twin Cities Iranian Culture Festival.[3]

After college, Jalali started her professional career as a teacher in New Orleans.[5] After teaching, she worked as a community organizer and as staff to then U.S. Representative Keith Ellison.[1]

Elected office

Jalali became the first Iranian American to hold elected office in Minnesota in 2018 when she was elected to represent Ward 4 on the Saint Paul City Council in a special election after the previous representative resigned to accept a job in the mayor's office.[3] She was the second woman of color to hold elected office in Saint Paul.[6] She was also the first Asian American woman to serve on the council and the first to openly identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.[7] At the time she was first elected, she was the youngest council member and the only renter among the members.[8] She was reelected to full four-year terms in 2019 and in 2023.[8][6] After being sworn in on January 9, 2024, the council elected Jalali city council president at its first meeting on January 10.[2] She identified the council's top three priorities as housing, sustainability and climate action, and community safety.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Ward 4 - Councilmember Mitra Jalali | Saint Paul Minnesota". stpaul.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  2. 1 2 3 "New St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali shares goals for historic council". MPR News. 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ansari, Hibah (2022-12-23). "Iranian Minnesotans call attention to political uprisings in Iran". Sahan Journal. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  4. 1 2 "For many Iranian-American families, this moment has us sick and terrified". The Guardian. 2020-01-03. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  5. ↑ Nordstrom, Tracy (2021-07-29). "Mitra Jalali - Pink to the People!". Verve. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  6. 1 2 "The Unprecedented Saint Paul City Council Takes Office". Minnesota Women's Press. 2024-01-08. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  7. ↑ Galioto, Katie; Boone, Anna; Steinberg, Jake (January 8, 2024). "St. Paul will swear in its first all-female City Council on Tuesday. How did we get here?". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  8. 1 2 Prather, Shannon Prather. "Mitra Jalali pushes St. Paul City Council to the left". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
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