Mayor Tim Keller – Albuquerque, NM

Mayor Tim Keller was elected in 2017 as Albuquerque’s 31st Mayor and re-elected in 2021. Born and raised in Albuquerque, Keller began his career in the private sector, working with Fortune 500 companies and Tribal governments before helping launch Cambodia’s first tech company providing jobs for landmine victims and trafficking survivors. He later returned home, serving as State Senator for the International District, where he rose to Majority Whip, and then as New Mexico State Auditor, creating the state’s first Government Accountability Office.

As Mayor, Keller created the first-of-its-kind Community Safety Department to send trained professionals to non-violent 911 calls, ensuring the right response to mental health, substance use, and homelessness — and freeing up police to focus on crime. During his tenure as Mayor, the Police Department reversed some of the nation’s worst property crime rates and cleared the rape kit backlog, honoring survivors and delivering justice. His leadership has modernized Albuquerque’s economy, attracting thousands of jobs with Netflix, Amazon, and NBC Universal. Under his climate agenda, Albuquerque became a top-five solar city and is on track to run on 100% renewable energy by 2025.

Keller has invested more than $200 million in underserved neighborhoods, expanded after-school and summer programs for 30,000 plus kids annually, and guided Albuquerque through the COVID-19 crisis with emergency childcare, small business grants, and housing relief. He has championed equity by establishing the city’s first Office of Equity and Inclusion and new initiatives for Native American and Black community engagement.

Outside of public service, Keller is an Eagle Scout, Kellogg Foundation Race Equity Fellow, dyslexia awareness advocate, and lifelong heavy metal fan, once profiled by The New York Times as the “#MetalMayor.”