CEO. Mother. Motivator. Mayor.
Shawyn Patterson-Howard was born and raised in Mount Vernon and has been on the front lines of fighting for social justice in our city for the last thirty years. Mayor Patterson-Howard has become known as a problem-solver, applying her experience and ingenuity to implement strategies to address Mount Vernon’s most pressing challenges.
As Mayor, she stopped the embarrassing infighting at City Hall and focused city government on delivering real solutions to our problems. Under her leadership, Mount Vernon:
Partnered with New York State to receive a $160 Million grant to repair our sewers
Partnered with Westchester County and the State to finally reopen Memorial Field
Is making historic investments in repaving our roads and accelerating repairs to our bridges
Finally upgraded our DPW, Police, and Fire fleets with new vehicles
Fought to save Mount Vernon Hospital
In government and the nonprofit sector, Mayor Patterson-Howard has shown her dedication to solving systemic problems through collaboration at the local, state and national level and emphasizing the needs of everyone. Her passion and impact can be seen across a range of issues from her work in public health, establishing HIV/AIDS services, to housing solutions for Mount Vernon’s homeless. Shawyn has consistently worked to promote a better criminal justice system that both addresses violent crime, reduces recidivism with reentry programs, and creates options for non-violent offenders to receive treatment as opposed to incarceration.
Throughout her time as Executive Director of the Mount Vernon YMCA, Shawyn prioritized programs to improve the health and well-being of the community from youth initiatives such as afterschool programs, college preparation and career services to public health strategies including water safety, nutrition and feeding programs. With a commitment to community development, she implemented programs for violence prevention and gang intervention as well as senior services, adult education, service-learning and reentry programs for ex-offenders.
In 2016, Patterson-Howard stepped up once again to serve the Mount Vernon community as the Commissioner of Planning and Community Development and the Executive Director of the Urban Renewal Agency. Under her leadership, funding was secured for crumbling sewage infrastructure and the development of the cultural arts district as well as investments to reinvigorate Fourth Avenue and eliminate dilapidated “Zombie Homes.”
Patterson-Howard made history when she was elected mayor, as the first female Mayor in the city of Mount Vernon and the first woman of color to become Mayor in Westchester County. She has worked tirelessly to bolster the community’s confidence in local leadership and maintained her resolve to improve public health, safety, and economic development, focusing on issues like gun violence prevention and working with our partners at other levels of government to secure historic investments to fix our crumbling infrastructure and finally re-open Memorial Field last year.