2022 Main Stage Speaker

Quinton Lucas was sworn in on August 1, 2019 as the 55th mayor of Kansas City, the youngest elected Kansas City mayor in more than a generation. Known affectionately as “Mayor Q” to Kansas Citians, he prioritizes making Kansas City’s neighborhoods safer, creating more accessible and affordable housing and public transportation, maintaining efficiency and transparency in governance, and improving basic services.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Mayor Q has spent most of his life in the city’s urban core. As a child, his family moved often and even experienced homelessness. Despite these challenges, Quinton remained focused on his schoolwork, earning academic scholarships to high school, college and eventually Cornell Law School before returning home to Kansas City. In 2015, Mayor Q won a City Council seat representing Kansas City’s Third District at-Large, where he focused on bridging the gap between east and west in an economically and racially divided city.

Mayor Lucas remains focused on building a safer Kansas City, leading with decisiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives, as well as addressing the generations-long epidemic of violent crime in Kansas City. Understanding that the city needs long-term, sustainable solutions to fighting violent crime, Mayor Q continues working to decriminalize poverty—including ensuring unpaid parking tickets can no longer lead to incarceration—and to build police-community trust through accountability measures. Mayor Q serves as chairman of the United States Conference of Mayors Criminal and Social Justice Committee and co-chair of Everytown for Gun Safety’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, where he advocates for local, state, and federal policy change to build safer communities.

Mayor Q is also a local and national leader in public transportation advocacy. The year he was elected, Mayor Q led Kansas City in launching an innovative Zero Fair Transit initiative, making Kansas City the first major American city to make all public transportation fare-free. Mayor Q serves as co-chair of Accelerator for America, a “do tank” focused on connecting municipalities with federal infrastructure resources to drive transformative change in communities across our country, and previously served as Vice Chair for Transit on the United States Conference of Mayors Transportation Committee.

Mayor Q remains focused on decriminalizing poverty and providing second chances, which is why he led the City Council in removing possession of marijuana as a violation from the City Code of Ordinances and launched a Municipal Marijuana Pardon Program. Working with grassroots organizations, Mayor Q has also led the City Council in adopting the City’s first-ever Tenants’ Bill of Rights.

Mayor Q has been a member of the University of Kansas Law School faculty since 2012, where he teaches local and state government law. Mayor Q is active in Kansas City as a volunteer in area schools and organizations, including providing mentorship in local prisons.