About
Satya Rhodes-Conway is the 58th Mayor of Madison. She has extensive experience in local policy and practice, having worked with mayors across the country for over a decade, and serving three terms on the Madison Common Council. Elected in 2019, she is the city’s second female mayor and the first out LGBTQ person to serve as Mayor of Madison.
Rhodes-Conway was born in New Mexico and grew up in Ithaca, New York. She has degrees from Smith College and the University of California - Irvine. She moved to Madison in 2002 and has lived here ever since.
Rhodes-Conway was the Managing Director of the Mayors Innovation Project and a senior associate at the COWS (Center on Wisconsin Strategy) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 13 years. She worked with cities across the country to implement innovative policy that promotes environmental and economic sustainability and builds strong, democratically accountable communities. During her time at UW, she researched and wrote extensively about local policy that promotes sustainability, equity and democracy. Rhodes-Conway served on the Board of the UniverCity Alliance and is a member of AFT Local 223.
Rhodes-Conway served three terms on Madison's City Council, representing District 12 from 2007 to 2013. She was a member of Madison's Food Policy Council from 2013 to 2019, and chaired the city’s Oscar Mayer Strategic Assessment Committee in 2018.
Before her time at UW, she analyzed state endangered species programs for Defenders of Wildlife, researched and wrote about progressive environmental policy at the State Environmental Resource Center, and taught undergraduate biology and ecology.
Rhodes-Conway and her partner, Amy Klusmeier, live on Madison’s east side with their dog Leo and three cats.