Malik Evans is the 71st and current Mayor of Rochester, New York. He previously served on the Rochester City Council as an at-large member.

Evans was born to Gwendolyn Evans and Lawrance Lee Evans Sr. His father was a minister who founded the First Community Interfaith Institute, which focused on social justice. He was also two-time political candidate for the New York State Assembly against Gary Proud and Rochester City School Board in the 1970s.

Evans attended Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School, graduating in 1998, the University of Rochester, graduating in 2002 with an undergraduate degree and Nazareth College, graduating from the School of Management.

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In 2003, Evans was first elected to the Rochester City School District school board where he served a total of 14 years on the board and was its president for five years from 2008 to 2013.

Evans has also worked as the Prosperity Program Manager at ESL Federal Credit Union and at M&T Bank. After being elected to the city council in 2018, Evans was the Finance Committee chairman of the city council. He retained the role until taking office as mayor.

The 42-year-old declared his candidacy for mayor of Rochester on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2021.

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He ran with the slogans of “restoring transparency” and “building bridges.” He also prioritized economic development through providing job opportunities for youths and reducing gun violence by cracking down on illegal guns.

During his campaign, he refused to directly attack incumbent Rochester mayor Lovely Warren despite the numerous controversies.

Evans was officially sworn in as mayor of Rochester on January 1, 2022.