photo of Mike Rawlings

Mike Rawlings

Mayor
City of Dallas

Mike Rawlings is the 61st mayor of Dallas and the longest-serving mayor in nearly six decades. Over more than seven years in office, he has focused on spurring economic development in the long-overlooked southern portion of Dallas through his GrowSouth initiative, improving public education, combatting poverty and domestic violence, developing parks, elevating the city's international profile and turning Dallas into a top destination for artists, young professionals, families and corporations.
A Borger, Texas, native and proud Boston College graduate, Mayor Rawlings worked his way up from an entry-level position at TracyLocke, then the largest advertising agency in the South, to become the CEO. Later, he took the helm of the world's largest pizza company, Pizza Hut, and grew it to record sales. He previously served as Chairman and Managing Partner of private equity firm CIC Partners, where he is currently the vice chairman.
During the time that Mayor Rawlings has led the ninth-largest city in America, Dallas has experienced tremendous economic growth. The year that he took office, the overall property value in the city was $83 billion. That value as of July 2018 was $130 billion, an increase of about 56 percent. The city's labor force has grown every year since Rawlings took office and unemployment was reported to be 3.4 percent as of October 2018, the 44th consecutive month that Dallas equaled or outperformed the national and state unemployment rate.



Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.

Events featuring Mike Rawlings
Events featuring Mike Rawlings