Stephen K. Benjamin

Steve Benjamin
Benjamin in August 2023
Senior Advisor to the President for Public Engagement
Incumbent
Assumed office April 1, 2023 Serving with Mike Donilon, Anita Dunn, Gene Sperling, Mitch Landrieu, John Podesta, Tom Perez and Annie Tomasini
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Keisha Lance Bottoms
Director of the Office of Public Engagement
Incumbent
Assumed office April 1, 2023
President	Joe Biden
Principal Deputy	Jamie Citron
Preceded by	Keisha Lance Bottoms
70th Mayor of Columbia
In office July 1, 2010 – January 4, 2022
Preceded by	Bob Coble
Succeeded by	Daniel Rickenmann
76th President of the United States Conference of Mayors
In office May 7, 2018 – July 1, 2019
Preceded by	Mitch Landrieu
Succeeded by	Bryan Barnett
Director of the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
In office January 13, 1999 – January 15, 2003
Governor	Jim Hodges
Preceded by	Stephen Bernie
Succeeded by	Joan Meacham
Personal details
Born	Stephen Keith Benjamin (1969-12-01) December 1, 1969 (age 54) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	DeAndrea Gist
Education	University of South Carolina (BA, JD)

Stephen Keith Benjamin (born December 1, 1969) is an American politician and businessman currently serving as the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement for the Biden administration, and also as one of the senior advisors to President Biden since April 1, 2023. He previously served as the 70th mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, from July 2010 to January 2022. He was the first African American mayor in the city's history. Before serving as mayor, he worked in the Columbia metropolitan area as an attorney and served on various charitable organizations.

On November 8, 2017, Benjamin won re-election for a third term as mayor with no votes as no other candidate filed. Benjamin was declared re-elected.^[1] Benjamin served as the 76th president of the United States Conference of Mayors from 2018 to 2019.^[2]