Rita Ali (born January 31, 1958) is an American politician serving as the 47th mayor of
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
since 2021.
She was elected on April 21, 2021, finishing just 43 votes ahead of her opponent, councilman Jim Montelongo.
Ali was sworn in two weeks later on May 4, becoming both the first woman and the first
African American to serve as mayor of Peoria.
She has previously served on the Peoria City Council and has held a position as Vice President of Workforce and Diversity at
Illinois Central College.
Formative years
Ali is the daughter of Robert and Nora Bryant. She has an older sister, Robin, and younger brother, Robert.
[An Interview with Rita Ali]
" in ''Peoria Magazine'', March 2006. Peoria, Illinois: Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc. (retrieved online May 25, 2021). She spent her early years in
Hannibal, Missouri, and subsequently relocated with her family to Peoria, Illinois during the 1960s when she was six years old.
[Councilwoman Rita Ali Is Running For Peoria Mayor]
" Peoria, Illinois: WCBU-Peoria Public Radio, September 1, 2020 (retrieved online May 25, 2021).
Ali was a 1976 graduate of
Manual High School. A single parent following her graduation, she began her college education at
Bradley University with the help of a full-tuition scholarship (the Romeo B. Garrett Scholarship), and attended classes there for two years until financial circumstances forced her to temporarily leave school to work full time. Thirty years later, she was a doctoral candidate in organization and management at
Capella University
Capella University is a private for-profit, online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school is owned by the publicly traded Strategic Education, Inc. and delivers most of its education online.
Capella has 52 degree progr ...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2006, having previously earned her bachelor's degree in human services management from the
University of Illinois Springfield and her master's degree in education administration from Bradley University.
As Rita Bryant, she met her future husband, Bashir Ali, while they were both employed by the City of Peoria’s Central Illinois Private Industry Council. She and Ali were married on May 6, 1996, and have four daughters and nine grandchildren.
Bashir Ali has been the director of workforce development for the City of Peoria since 1987.
Professional life
Rita Ali secured her first job at the age of fourteen. She was employed as a community outreach worker by the Dar Es Salaam (House of Peace) Center on Peoria’s South Side, and was also later a community organizer for the Northside Action Council. Later in her professional life, as the manager of the federal division of an information technology company, Rita Ali worked in Washington, DC for two years, but decided to return to Peoria to be closer to family. Hired as the director of Multicultural Student Services at Bradley University, she was subsequently appointed as the director of diversity at
Illinois Central College in 2004.
Political career
Still employed at Illinois Central College in 2019, Rita Ali held the title of vice president of workforce, diversity and career development. She had also been elected to the Peoria City Council.
Dr. Rita Ali: ICC/Peoria City Council
" in ''Peoria Magazine'', December 2019. Peoria, Illinois: Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc. (retrieved online, May 25, 2021.
Ali was an at-large member of the Peoria City Council at the time she announced her run for mayor in 2020.
References
External links
Mayor's office
at PeoriaGov
Rita Ali for Mayor of Peoria, Illinois
(Ali's campaign website; provides details about her personal life). Peoria, Illinois: Citizens to Elect Ali (retrieved online May 25, 2021).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Rita
Living people
Illinois Democrats
Mayors of Peoria, Illinois
21st-century American politicians
Peoria, Illinois City Council members
21st-century American women politicians
Women mayors of places in Illinois
African-American mayors in Illinois
Year of birth missing (living people)
University of Illinois at Springfield alumni
Capella University alumni
African-American women mayors
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American politicians
1950s births