Jamie Gauthier is an American

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

politician and member of the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

. In 2019, she was elected to represent the Third District, which covers much of

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

and Southwest Philadelphia.

Early life and career

Gauthier was born in the Kingsessing neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Her father, Leon Williams, ran for

District Attorney of Philadelphia The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The current ...

twice as an independent candidate. She received her undergraduate degree in Accounting from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptists, Baptist minister Russell Conwell an ...

and her Masters in City Planning from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

. Gauthier founded Mommy Grads, an organization dedicated to helping single mothers raise children while attending college. She worked as a program officer with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation before serving as executive director of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia from 2013 to 2017. In 2017, she became executive director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy.

Philadelphia City Council

In January 2019, Gauthier announced she would challenge longtime incumbent Jannie Blackwell in the Democratic primary for

in the Third District, which covers much of

and Southwest Philadelphia. Blackwell had represented the district since 1992, when she succeeded her husband Lucien Blackwell, who previously held the seat for 17 years. Gauthier defeated Blackwell by 56%-44% in the May 2019 primary, in what was called "a huge upset over one of the biggest political dynasties in Philly politics." Gauthier faced no opposition in the general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gauthier, Jamie Living people Philadelphia City Council members African-American city council members in Pennsylvania African-American women in politics Pennsylvania Democrats Women city councillors in Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women

Early life and career

Philadelphia City Council

See also

References