Lottie Shackelford

Lottie H. Shackelford is an African-American politician. In 1987, she became the first woman elected Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas and served in the position until December 1988. Six years later, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), making her the first African American woman to serve in that capacity. She is also the longest serving Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), having been continuously re-elected to the position since 1989 and working with six different Chairmen over the past eighteen years.

Biography

Education

Ms. Shackelford received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas; she was a Senior Fellow at the Arkansas Institute of Politics; and a fellow at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Career

Ms. Shackelford's political career began in 1978 when she was elected to the Board of Directors for the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, and was re-elected city-wide three times to that position before becoming the City’s first woman Mayor. During her tenure in local government, Ms. Shackelford directed liaison activities for minority businesses and held leadership positions in the National League of Cities. Additionally, she presented papers on local government, economic development and electoral politics, both nationally and internationally, and has led economic trade missions and conducted lecture tours in Europe, Asia, and Africa.