Heiða Björg Hilmisdóttir (born 21 February 1971) is an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic politician and the

Mayor of Reykjavík The post of Mayor of Reykjavík () was created in 1907 and advertised in 1908. Páll Einarsson and Knud Zimsen applied for the job and Páll got the position for a period of six years, at the end of which he did not wish to renew his tenure. Rather ...

since 21 February 2025. Heiða served as the vice chairman of the

Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance (, ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Iceland, political party in Iceland. The party is positioned on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum and their ...

from February 2017 until October 2022. She is the former chair of the party's women's movement and she is a

city councillor A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Political career

Heiða was the chair of the Women's Movement in the Social Democratic Alliance from 2013 to 2015. She took a seat on

Reykjavík City Council The Reykjavík City Council ( Icelandic: ''Borgarstjórn Reykjavíkur'') is the local council for Reykjavík, the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is composed of 23 members elected by proportional representation for a 4-year term The Cou ...

in 2015, where she has been on the executive board of the city. Heiða has been the chair of the Reykjavík Violence Prevention Committee since its establishment, which was approved at a women's celebration meeting of the city council on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage on 31 March 2015. Heiða was second on Samfylkingin's list in the 2018 city council elections, and was elected chair of the Reykjavík Welfare Council at a meeting of the city council on 19 June 2019. Heiða became vice-chair of the Association of Local Authorities in Iceland in 2018. She is a member of the board of Félagsbústaðir, a social housing company, and is vice president for ECAD, European Cities Action Network for Drug Free Societies. Heiða is the vice president of the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities and is on the policy committee of the Council of European Municipalities and regions. Heiða is a representative in the Presidency of the Party of European Socialists, which holds strategic discussions on progressive priorities for the future of Europe. Heiða was elected chair of the executive board of the party on 4 June 2016, and elected vice-chair of the Social Democratic Alliance on 4 February 2017, but the party had just emerged from the parliamentary elections in which the party received only 5.7% of the vote. She has been re-elected twice, first in 2018 and then in 2020. Heiða is a feminist and took an active part in the #metoo movement in Iceland and was the spokesperson for women in politics under the hashtag #ískuggavaldsins. Welfare politics outside Iceland.

Professional life

Before taking a seat on the city council, Heiða worked as the head of the food and nutrition services at Landspítali University hospital. She was the Vice-Chair of the MS Association in Iceland, the vice chair and later Chair of the Nordic MS Association, the Chair of the Iceland Nutrition Society and a member of the Representative Council of the European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians. She has covered food and nutrition in the media, worked as a journalist, taught at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

, and she is a published author of two cookbooks: Samlokur, with Bryndís Eva Birgisdóttir, and Af bestu lyst 4.

Education

Heiða is educated as a dietitian and administrative dietitian, and has a M.Sc. in nutrition management from the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

in Sweden. She has an executive MBA degree from

Reykjavík University Reykjavík University (RU; , , ) is the largest private university in Iceland with approximately 3,300 students. It is Charter school, chartered by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, and the Confederation of Icelandi ...

and a diploma in

positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of conditions and processes that contribute to positive psychological states (e.g., contentment, joy), well-being, Positive psychology of relationships, positive relationships, and positive institutio ...

from the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilmisdottir, Heida Bjorg Heida Bjorg Hilmisdottir Heida Bjorg Hilmisdottir Heida Bjorg Hilmisdottir Heida Bjorg Hilmisdottir 1971 births Living people University of Gothenburg alumni Reykjavík University alumni Academic staff of the University of Iceland 21st-century Icelandic women writers