Sharon Sayles Belton
| Sharon Sayles Belton | |
|---|---|
| 45th Mayor of Minneapolis | |
|
In office January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2001 |
|
| Preceded by | Donald M. Fraser |
| Succeeded by | R. T. Rybak |
| Minneapolis City Council President | |
|
In office 1990–1993 |
|
| Minneapolis City Council, 8th Ward | |
|
In office 1983–1993 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 13, 1951 Saint Paul, Minnesota  
|
| Political party | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Occupation | Senior Fellow, Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice |
Sharon Sayles Belton (born May 13, 1951) is an American community leader, politician and activist. She is Vice President of Community Relations and Government Affairs for Thomson Reuters Legal business.
She served as mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1994 until 2001, the first African American and first woman to hold that position.
Sayles Belton was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as one of four daughters of Bill and Ethel Sayles. After her parents separated, she lived for one year with her mother in Richfield, Minnesota, where she was the only African American in East Junior High School, then moved to south Minneapolis to live with her father and stepmother. She attended Central High School, volunteered as a candy striper at Mount Sinai Hospital, and later worked as a nurse's aide. She served briefly a civil rights activist in the state of Mississippi.
Sayles Belton attended Macalester College in Saint Paul, where she studied biology and sociology. She later worked as a parole officer with victims of sexual assault. Like her grandfather Bill Sayles, she became a neighborhood activist. She is married to Steven Belton, with whom she raised three children: Kilayna, Jordan, and Coleman.
In 1983, Sayles Belton was elected by the Eighth Ward to the Minneapolis City Council. She was inspired by working with mayor Donald M. Fraser. She represented the state at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, where Minnesota politician Walter Mondale was nominated for President of the United States. A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Sayles Belton was elected city council president in 1990.
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