Marilyn Strickland is an American politician and businesswoman who served as the first female African-American and Korean-American mayor of Tacoma, Washington, from 2010 to 2018.
Early life and education
Strickland was born in 1962 in Seoul, South Korea, the daughter of a Korean mother and African-American father. Strickland and her family moved to Tacoma, Washington, in 1967, after her father was stationed at Fort Lewis. She earned a degree in business from the University of Washington and an MBA from Clark Atlanta University.
Career
After graduating from the University of Washington, Strickland took a job opportunity at Northern Life Insurance, doing clerical work. She was introduced to Seattle Mayor Norm Rice at a luncheon, who suggested that she further her education. After graduating from Clark Atlanta University, Strickland joined Starbucks as a manager of its online business. After a short stint with the Seattle-based company, Strickland moved on to help launch Tacoma’s public broadband cable serviceClick!, working with an advertisement agency to help grow public support. After years in the private sector, Strickland was elected to the Tacoma City Council. She served as a council member for two years before being elevated to mayor, serving from 2010 to 2018. Strickland was the first Asian-born elected mayor of Tacoma, as well as the first African-American woman in that office. Strickland used connections in China and Vietnam to draw foreign investors, culminating in the visit to Tacoma of Chinese President Xi Jinping. As Mayor, Strickland led efforts to raise the minimum wage and pass paid sick leave. She sought out private investors, successfully bringing over $1 billion for housing and businesses into the city, and made $500 million in infrastructure investments to repair and rebuild roads, bridges, mass transportation, and the Port of Tacoma. Strickland also made great strides in the education sector. By making education a civic focus and coordinating efforts across City governments, Strickland helped raise the graduation rate from 55% to 89% over her term in office. She also created the Tacoma Tideflats Certification Program, a program for high school students which created a pipeline to fill high-demand, well-paying jobs in the maritime and construction trades. Strickland made significant progress on environmental and social issues. The city-wide Environmental Action Plan she supported helped lead to thousands of new electric charging stations, an increase in solar energy usage, and increased energy conservation in City buildings. She created the Office of Equity and Human Rights and the Minority Business Development Agency at the City, launched My Brother’s Keeper and supported “ban the box” legislation to help applicants interested in employment with the City of Tacoma. She endorsed and supported a statewide ballot initiative increasing police accountability in fatal shootings and requiring de-escalation training. Strickland was the first Mayor to raise the Pride flag over Tacoma City Hall and earned the Ruby Award from the Rainbow Center of Tacoma for LGBTQ allyship. In May 2010, the Tacoma Board of Ethics sanctioned Mayor Marilyn Strickland for accepting frequent flyer miles from a local businessman for an official trip to Asia. Strickland accepted the sanction and returned the value of the frequent flyer miles to the businessman. Following the end of her mayoral term, Strickland was approached by the pro-business Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce to serve as the organization's president. Strickland left the Chamber early in 2020, declaring her candidacy for Washington's 10th congressional district in the 2020 election, a seat being vacated by incumbent Denny Heck.
