Karen Bass
Credit: Metro
Mayor of the City of Los Angeles
More about Metro appointmentsAbout Karen Bass
Karen Bass is the 43rd Mayor of Los Angeles and the first woman and second African American to be elected as the city's chief executive. With an agenda focused on bringing urgency, accountability, and a new direction to Los Angeles, she will start her term with a focus on housing people immediately and increasing safety and opportunity in every part of Los Angeles.
A daughter of our city, Mayor Bass was raised with her three brothers in the Venice/Fairfax neighborhood and is a proud graduate of Hamilton High School. After serving as a front-line healthcare provider as a nurse and as a Physician Assistant, Mayor Bass founded the Community Coalition to organize the predominantly Black and Latino residents of South L.A. against substance abuse, poverty and crime, and to pioneer strategies to address the root causes behind the challenges faced by underserved neighborhoods.
She then went on to represent Los Angeles in the State Assembly and was elected by her peers to serve as Speaker, making her the first African American woman to ever lead a state legislative body in the history of the United States. Her time in leadership intersected with the Great Recession, and she was honored with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for reaching across party lines and making tough decisions to keep the state from bankruptcy while protecting vital services.
While representing Los Angeles and Culver City in Congress, Mayor Bass helped protect small businesses during the pandemic, created policy to drive local jobs from federal infrastructure funding, and led the passage of what the Los Angeles Times called “the most significant child welfare policy reform in decades.”
Mayor Bass earned her bachelor's degree in health sciences from CSU Dominguez Hills before graduating from the USC Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program and earning her masters degree in social work from USC.
Mayor Bass’s oldest daughter Emilia planned to follow in her mother’s footsteps working for social change. The Mayor-elect continues to be inspired by Emilia and her son-in-law Michael’s passion for life. She has three other children, Scythia, Omar and Yvette, and two grandchildren, Michael and Henry, who live in the Los Angeles area.
Board Reports
Board reports acted upon most recently by committees to which Karen Bass belongs
2025-0288 - WEAPONS DETECTION PILOT Received
6/18/2025 - RECEIVED AND FILED
Accessibility Ara Najarian Bandwidth (Traffic signals) Board approved a Motion Fernando Dutra Gateway Cities (Southeast LA County) Service Sector Gateway Cities subregion Hilda Solis James Butts Janice Hahn Karen Bass Kathryn Barger Key Performance Indicator Maintenance Motion / Motion Response Norwalk Norwalk Station Public Safety Advisory Committee Safety Safety and security Security Surveys System safety Systems engineering Technical Advisory Committee Transit System Transit safety Vehicle maintenance Video Weapons2025-0348 - COMMUNITY ADVISORY COUNCIL (CAC) QUARTERLY UPDATE Received
2025-0383 - GENDER ACTION PLAN UPDATE Received
6/18/2025 - RECEIVED AND FILED
7th Street/Metro Center Station Accessibility Alignment Audit Barriers (Roads) Bus Acquisitions Children Fare Zone First/Last Mile Gender Gender Action Plan GoPass Informational Report Law enforcement Low-Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) Metro Commute Services Metro Rail A Line Metro Rail B Line Metro Rail D Line Metro Rail E Line Off peak periods Partnerships Policy Prevention Program Race Ridership Safety Safety and security Security Surveys System safety Transfers Transit System Travel patterns Travel time Vehicle design Visibility Women & Girls Governing Council Zoning2025-0456 - FEDERAL AND STATE REPORT Received
6/18/2025 - RECEIVED AND FILED
American Public Transportation Association Budget Budgeting Cap-and-Trade Cleaning Construction Federal Transit Administration Grant Aid High speed rail Housing Informational Report Janice Hahn Motion / Motion Response New Starts Program Olympic games Program Project Purchasing Safety Transit System Transit buses Transit operators Transit safety United States Department Of Transportation Zero Emissions2025-0077 - ANNUAL STATUS REPORT OF 48 BY '28 PLAN Received
5/15/2025 - RECEIVED AND FILED
Advertising Annual reports Barriers (Roads) Bids Central Los Angeles subregion Certification City of Los Angeles Construction Contractors Contracts Disadvantaged business enterprises Disparity Study Formula Allocation / Local Return Grant Aid Hilda Solis Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker James Butts Janice Hahn Labor Local Returns Metro Equity Platform Motion / Motion Response Outreach Partnerships Pilot studies Plan Prime Contractor Procurement Professional Services Program Purchasing Race Ramps (Interchanges) Request For Proposal Research management San Fernando Valley subregion Small Business Enterprise Small Business Prime Program South Bay Cities subregion Subcontractors Suppliers Surveys United States Department Of Transportation Westside Cities subregion