Melvin Carter

Melvin Carter is mayor of St. Paul, MN. Elected to a second term in 2021, he is the first African American to hold this office. Carter’s equity agenda has included raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, reestablishing an affordable housing trust fund, and launching an Office of Financial Empowerment. Prior to this, he was a Saint Paul City Council member from 2008 to 2013. Previously, Carter was founding board chair of the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood, director of the Minnesota Office of Early Learning, and executive director of the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet advising former Governor Mark Dayton on early childhood policy. Earlier in his career, he was an adjunct faculty member at University of Minnesota-Duluth, teaching graduate classes on campaigns and elections.