Ron Nirenberg is the mayor of San Antonio, which has the 7th largest population in the United States and is one of the nation’s fastest growing cities.
Mayor Nirenberg is the first San Antonio Mayor of Asian Pacific Islander descent. His mother is Filipino and his paternal grandparents were immigrants from Eastern Europe who passed through Ellis Island.
Through his personal experiences, Mayor Nirenberg developed a core commitment to civic participation and the universal values of liberty, justice, and equal opportunity for every person.
First elected in 2017, Mayor Nirenberg was re-elected to a fourth term on May 6, 2023.
Under his leadership as mayor, the city has adopted an equity framework in budgeting to reduce poverty, improve public health, and overcome historical socioeconomic inequality. He is focused on making key investments necessary to accommodate San Antonio’s rapid growth. This forward-looking approach drives the mayor’s vision of a compassionate community with a globally competitive economy.
The Mayor’s policy priorities include workforce development. In 2020, he successfully championed SA Ready to Work, a four-year workforce development program approved by 77 percent of voters and funded without raising the tax rate.
Mayor Nirenberg also played a leading role crafting a long-term solution in 2020 for funding the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program.
In 2017, Mayor Nirenberg created the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force seeking to ensure that all San Antonians, regardless of income level, can find quality affordable housing within the city limits. The task force recommendations were approved by City Council in 2018.
In an effort to combat the effects of global climate change, Mayor Nirenberg spearheaded a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, which was adopted by the City Council in October 2019. Shortly thereafter, Mayor Nirenberg joined the Climate Mayors Steering Committee, a group of 24 mayors who will serve as a leading voice in efforts to further climate action in the more than 400 cities across the U.S. that make up the Climate Mayors coalition.
Grist, a nonprofit media organization, named Mayor Nirenberg one of the Grist 50 in 2020, recognizing him as an emerging leader on climate change in the United States.
In 2018, the United States Conference of Mayors honored Mayor Nirenberg with the Small Business Advocate award for his efforts to encourage entrepreneurism.
Mayor Nirenberg is a former Chairman of Sister Cities International, a nonpartisan organization that connects cities across the globe through civic, educational and cultural exchanges. The City of San Antonio enjoys active and productive Sister City relationships with 11 cities worldwide, and Mayor Nirenberg has been a participant in establishing productive, people-to-people relationships through global community partnerships and volunteer action.
He was first elected to represent District 8 on the San Antonio City Council in 2013. During his two terms, he championed smart city and regional planning, inclusive economic development, environmental stewardship, fiscal responsibility and governmental accountability. As councilman, he brought together a public-private coalition to save the world-renowned Bracken Bat Cave, the largest colony of bats in the world.
Prior to his public service, Mayor Nirenberg was the founder of two small-businesses, worked as the general manager of KRTU-FM San Antonio, and served as a program director for the Annenberg Public Policy Center where he developed and directed award-winning civic engagement programs.
Mayor Nirenberg graduated summa cum laude from Trinity University and received a Master’s Degree in Communication magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Austin, Texas.
He and his wife, First Lady Erika Prosper, are the proud parents of their son, Jonah.