First Chief Equity Officer Joins St. Pete Mayor's Executive Team: City

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Mayor Ken Welch has named the city’s first chief equity officer - social justice champion and nonprofit leader Lenice C. Emanuel.

With more than 25 years in nonprofit management, government, fund development, and community relations, Emanuel most recently served as the executive director of the Alabama Institute for Social Justice, a statewide agency focused on racial justice and reconciliation across the state of Alabama, according to a news release from the city.

"Lenice has the experience and track record in bringing diverse groups together to engage in meaningful dialogue that can positively impact a range of social justice issues here at the city and in the community," Welch said. "Not only am I excited about Lenice's return to St. Petersburg, but she is the right leader to ensure that intentional equity remains at the forefront of my administration's priorities."

The role, announced in May, was created in response to the Structural Racism Study conducted by the city in 2021 and to support the mayor’s focus on inclusive progress.

Emanuel will be responsible for ensuring that equity and inclusion are fully integrated into city government policies, procedures and practices in collaboration with community stakeholders, the city said.

She’ll be a member of the mayor’s executive team and will report directly to Welch’s chief of staff, Jordan “Doyle” Walsh. She’ll also oversee education and youth opportunity efforts and the Office of Community Impact.

Emanuel starts in the role Oct. 2.

"The opportunity to serve in this new role is a great honor and I am looking forward to journeying with a community that I have long loved - bringing together the best of all of us, while centering the needs, values, and aspirations of those historically marginalized," she said. "At its core, St. Pete is rich in diversity, inclusiveness, and progressive intention, making it perfectly poised to lead in the area of equity. We are committed to leaving no one behind, where all of us will rise, together, as one St. Pete."

During her eight years at AISJ, Emanuel was dedicated to the empowerment of women, people of color, and addressing poverty in marginalized communities through the platform areas of childcare advocacy, voter engagement, gender equity, grassroots organizing, environmental justice, and racial healing and reconciliation.

No stranger to St. Petersburg, Emanuel served as president/CEO of YWCA Tampa Bay from 2010 to 2015. Previous roles in Alabama include serving as CEO of YWCA Greater Mobile, and working in leadership roles at the city of Prichard, the Mobile Area Education Foundation and Success By 6 with the Montgomery YMCA.

She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Auburn University at Montgomery, a master of liberal arts degree in leadership and ethics from Spring Hill College and a certificate in diversity and inclusion from Cornell University.