Dallas City Council Appoints First Black Women as City Manager

Source: LinkedIn

On Wednesday, January 23, 2025, Kimberly Bizor Tolbert became the first Black woman to hold the position of Dallas city manager. Tolbert prevailed over Mario Lara, the city manager of Sacramento, and William Johnson, the assistant city manager of Fort Worth, in a 13-2 vote. According to reports, her annual compensation will be $450,000. The city council finally appointed her after a nearly year-long search because they were confident in her abilities.

The Black community has truly achieved something tremendous  in this accomplishment, removing roadblocks that have hindered people of color from being in positions such as this.

You should know that Kimberly has been working in public service for over 20 years, and that she is an expert in several areas, including strategy and execution, finances, operations, governance, business development, diversity and inclusion, change management, and people management.

Tolbert assisted with the administration of the mayor’s and council’s offices while serving as assistant to the city manager in 1998.

Additionally, she held the positions of chief of staff, chief strategic officer, assistant executive director, and director of strategy and innovation while she was employed at the North Dallas Tollway Authority.

We look forward to all that she sets out to accomplish during her time in this leadership position.