Allison Silberberg

the former Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia
Titles and Organizations

Political Practitioner
Former Mayor of Alexandria

Contact Information

Biography

Allison Silberberg, the former Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, is a writer, public speaker, and lifelong advocate for social justice and inclusiveness. After serving as Vice Mayor of Alexandria from 2012 to 2015, in 2016 Allison became the second female Mayor of Alexandria since the city’s founding in 1749. Her term as Mayor was a game changer on many fronts, addressing many long-deferred infrastructure issues related to cleaning up the environment, building new schools, and tripling the funding for affordable housing. She initiated and drafted the City’s Statement on Inclusiveness, which garnered national attention. Her term culminated in the largest business deal in the history of Metropolitan Washington when Alexandria and Arlington partnered to bring Amazon’s HQ2 to Arlington and Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus to Alexandria. This was an historic economic accomplishment for the city, the region, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Allison continues to speak out for a proactive, common sense approach to government while championing education, social justice, the environment, affordable housing, ethics reform, inclusiveness and civility. At the State level, she has been outspoken about the need for common sense gun reform laws, the Equal Rights Amendment, ending gerrymandering, and campaign finance reform.

Allison is the author of two books, including of Visionaries In Our Midst: Ordinary People who are Changing our World, which hit #1 on Amazon’s list of New Releases in Philanthropy & Charity. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, and on PBS.org. Allison’s unique background combines public service, public policy, non-profit management, philanthropy, and communications. A native of Dallas, Allison has a B.A. in international relations and history from American University and an M.F.A. in playwriting from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television.