State of the City of Norfolk
May 05, 2020
CANCELLED Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander
State of the City of Norfolk

Kenneth Cooper Alexander was elected Mayor of the City of Norfolk on May 3, 2016.  A native of Norfolk and president of Metropolitan Funeral Service, he began his public service career more than two decades ago.

Before his election as mayor, Mr. Alexander served in the Senate of Virginia where he was a member of the committees on Commerce and Labor, Finance, Transportation and Privileges and Elections.

He also served on the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission, the High Speed Rail Compact Commission for Virginia and North Carolina, the Special Joint Subcommittee to Consult on the Plan to Close State Training Centers and the Joint Commission on the Future Competitiveness of Virginia Higher Education.

Before his election to the Senate, he represented the 89th District in the House of Delegates from 2002 until 2012, serving on the committees of Commerce and Labor, Education, Privileges and Elections and Rules.

Prior to his election to the General Assembly, Mr. Alexander was a member of the Norfolk Economic Development Authority, City Planning Commission (vice chair), Human Services Commission and of a City Council-appointed blue ribbon commission that studied the direct election of the office of mayor.  He is a member of the Greater Norfolk Corporation, the Norfolk Chapter of the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association and an alumnus of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership.  Mr. Alexander began his community service as president of Berkley’s Beacon Light Civic League and Beacon Light Community Development Corporation. Mayor Alexander is proud that his first full-time job was with the City of Norfolk as a Cemetery Manager I with the Department of Parks and Recreation from 1989 to 1990.

A 1985 graduate of Lake Taylor High School, Mr. Alexander holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from Old Dominion University and a Master’s degree in diplomacy from Norwich University, the oldest private military college in the country. Presently, he is working on his doctorate in Leadership and Change with Antioch University.

Mr. Alexander and his wife, Donna Burnley Alexander, have two school-aged sons, Kenneth II and David.