Mayor, City of Compton

Aja Brown

Aja Brown made history at the age of 31 when she was elected the youngest mayor in the City of
Compton. Her hands-on approach to governance has garnered national recognition and a home in the
hearts of change-makers across the globe. A local and national trailblazer, Aja Brown’s ‘New Vision for
Compton’ 12-point revitalization strategy has guided improvements in quality of life, economic
development, infrastructural growth, policy reform, and strategic partnerships.

As a millennial Mayor, Aja Brown has restored hope and confidence in the City of Compton and
attracted several Fortune 500 companies and notables like Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and the Williams
Sister to reinvest in the social fabric of the city in a major way. Her rebranding efforts have transformed
Compton’s negative historical narrative and given residents and the world a fresh perspective on the
realities and resilience of their great city. Her work with President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper
initiative has afforded youth leadership development that afforded them the opportunity to travel from
Compton to the Roosevelt Room of the White House and across the country.

Aja Brown has not only used her platform and years of experience as an urban planner to develop new
policy and guided growth but to empower her community to take part in its own exciting
transformation. Over the past 5 years, Aja Brown has worked with the business sector to reduce
unemployment by more than 60% and implemented a local hiring ordinance. She has worked with
gang members that resulted in a 25-year record low of homicides in 2015 and eliminated hourly motel
rentals resulting in the closure of businesses that incubated human trafficking.

Mayor Brown is the recipient of the 2016 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award and was awarded the
prestigious University of Southern California 2014 Young Alumni Merit Award. Brown holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy, Urban Planning and Development and a Master’s degree in Urban
Planning with a concentration in Economic Development from the University of Southern California
and is married to her best friend of 18 years, Van Brown.