Mitra Jalali
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Mitra Jalali | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the Saint Paul City Council | |
| In office January 10, 2024 – February 5, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Amy Brendmoen |
| Succeeded by | Rebecca Noecker[1] |
| Member of the Saint Paul City Council from Ward 4 | |
| In office 2019 – February 5, 2025[2] | |
| Preceded by | Russ Stark[3] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1986 (age 39–40) |
| Party | Democratic (DFL) |
Mitra Jalali (born 1986) is a former City Council President and Council Member for Ward 4 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.[4][5] She became the first Iranian-American elected official in Minnesota when she was elected to the Saint Paul City Council in 2018.[6] In January 2025, Jalali announced her resignation from the city council effective February 5, 2025.[2]
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.[6] Her mother was adopted from South Korea by a family in Owatonna, Minnesota.[7] Her parents met in college.[7]
Jalali's father organizes the annual Twin Cities Iranian Culture Festival.[6]
After college, Jalali started her professional career as a teacher in New Orleans.[8] After teaching, she worked as a community organizer and as a staffer to then U.S. Representative Keith Ellison.[4]
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.[6] She was the second woman of color to hold elected office in Saint Paul.[9] 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.[10] At the time she was first elected, she was the youngest council member and the only renter among the members.[11]
Jalali was reelected to full four-year terms in 2019 and in 2023.[11][9] After being sworn in on January 9, 2024, the council elected her council president at its first meeting on January 10.[5] She identified the council's top three priorities as housing, sustainability and climate action, and community safety.[5]
Jalali announced her resignation from city council in January 2025, citing concerns over her health. Her final council meeting was on February 5, 2025.[2]