Gale A. Brewer is the 27th Borough President of Manhattan, with a role in deciding land-use and zoning issues in the borough, appointment of members to the 12 community boards, and the ability to introduce legislation in the City Council.

Since she took office in 2014, her bills to reform the deed restriction process and remove criminal history from initial employment applications have been enacted, and her pre-ULURP (« Uniform Land Use Review Procedure ») community planning groups have addressed development issues at the South Street Seaport and in East Midtown.

Brewer previously served on the Council for 12 years, serving as Chair of the Technology Committee and the Government Operations Committee. Her legislation guaranteeing paid sick leave for most hourly employees, requiring all City data be published online, and protecting domestic workers from abusive practices– the first such law in the nation– has all been eneacted.

Brewer has an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and did her undergraduate work at Columbia University and Bennington College. Brewer previously served as Chief of Staff to Council Mmeber Ruth Messinger, NYC Deputy Public Advocate, Director of the city’s Federal Office, and Executive Director of Mayor Dinkins’ Commission on the Status of Women. She also was Project Manager for the NYC Nonprofits Project at CUNY’s Graduate Center and manager of an affordable housing project for the Telesis Corporation.