Mayor Eileen Higgins is the first woman elected Mayor of the City of Miami. She leads a results-driven administration focused on building a safer, more connected, and more resilient city where working families can thrive. Her priorities include accelerating housing delivery, modernizing infrastructure and mobility, strengthening neighborhood services, supporting small businesses, and reforming City Hall to operate with clear standards, transparency, and measurable results residents can see and feel.
Housing affordability and cost of living are central to her leadership. Mayor Higgins is focused on building more housing people can actually afford, built faster and smarter by cutting red tape and speeding up permitting while maintaining strong standards. She supports transit-oriented development and mixed-income housing so residents can live near jobs, schools, and opportunity rather than being pushed out of the communities they love. She believes affordability is not just about rent, but also transportation, childcare, and everyday essentials that shape family stability.
Prior to becoming Mayor, Higgins served seven years as the Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 5, representing one of the county’s most diverse and economically dynamic areas. There, she became a leading voice for closing equity gaps by expanding transportation access, championing affordable housing, supporting small and minority-owned businesses, defending workers and seniors, standing with LGBTQ residents, and protecting Biscayne Bay and the surrounding environment.
As Commissioner, she confronted the housing crisis head-on, helping plan, initiate, and preserve more than 7,000 affordable housing units in District 5 alone. She advanced policies to protect renters, preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, reduce development barriers, and expand pathways to homeownership. She also launched Elevate District 5, a comprehensive initiative to strengthen the small business ecosystem through grants, technical assistance, access to capital, and innovation tools. The program has supported more than 1,000 local businesses and helped entrepreneurs grow and adapt in a changing economy.
Mayor Higgins brings a global and practical perspective to public service. Trained as an engineer at the University of New Mexico and holding an MBA from Cornell University, she approaches complex challenges with a problem-solving mindset and a focus on efficiency and results. She began her career streamlining operations in manufacturing before serving as Peace Corps Country Director in Belize and later as a U.S. diplomat working on economic and policy initiatives in Mexico and South Africa.
Known for pairing high standards with compassion, Mayor Higgins believes local government must work better for residents. She has created sprint teams to modernize outdated systems, improve permitting timelines, and build a customer-service mindset inside City Hall. From improving transportation reliability to strengthening infrastructure against climate change, from expanding affordable housing to fostering economic growth that benefits residents, she is committed to delivering a more responsive, transparent, and effective government.
As Mayor, Eileen Higgins is focused on ensuring Miami remains a global city that works for the people who call it home, today and for generations to come.