Christine King: Settles in as first woman Miami City Commission chair

Christine King started her career in public service in her 20s as a volunteer with a Miami-Dade County commissioner and continued serving the community in different spaces. She worked as chief of constituents services for a county commissioner and later as an executive with the Community Action Agency. 

She later became president and CEO of the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation and became a practicing attorney. 

In November 2021 she was elected Miami city commissioner for District 5 and then was appointed chairwoman of the commission, the first woman to hold that leadership role. 

Throughout her career, she had many role models and mentors such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi; Commissioner James C. Burke, from whom she learned what to do and not to do; Ophelia E. Brown-Lawson; Sonia Grice; elementary school, middle school, and high school teachers, but at the top of the list is her mother. 

“My mother is awesome,” Ms. King said. The commissioner was born in Guyana and moved to Miami at age 5. Her mother raised her as a single parent and the commissioner attended Allapattah Elementary School, Westview Middle School, and Miami Central Sr. High School. 

Commissioner King spoke with Miami Today reporter Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow. 

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