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federal division of an information technology company, Rita Ali worked in
Washington, DC for two years, but decided to return to Peoria to be closer to family. Hired as the director of Multicultural Student Services at Bradley University, she was subsequently appointed as the director of diversity at
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Rita Ali secured her first job at the age of fourteen. She was employed as a community outreach worker by the Dar es Salaam (House of Peace) Center on Peoria's South Side, and was also later a community organizer for the
Northside Action Council. Later in her professional life, as the manager of the
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As Rita Bryant, she met her future husband, Bashir Ali, while they were both employed by the City of Peoria's
Central Illinois Private Industry Council. She and Ali were married on May 6, 1996, and have four daughters and nine grandchildren. Bashir Ali has been the director of workforce development
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Scholarship), and attended classes there for two years until financial circumstances forced her to temporarily leave school to work full time. Thirty years later, she was a doctoral candidate in organization and management at
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Ali was an at-large member of the Peoria City
Council at the time she announced her run for mayor in 2020. She was successful, and made history, becoming the first woman and first African American to become mayor of Peoria.
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since 2021. She was elected on April 21, 2021, finishing just 43 votes ahead of her opponent, councilman Jim
Montelongo. Ali was sworn in two weeks later on May 4, becoming both the first woman and the first
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Still employed at
Illinois Central College in 2019, Rita Ali held the title of vice president of workforce, diversity and career development. She had also been elected to the Peoria City Council.
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to serve as mayor of Peoria. She has previously served on the Peoria City
Council and has held a position as Vice President of Workforce and Diversity at
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494:(Ali's campaign website; provides details about her personal life). Peoria, Illinois: Citizens to Elect Ali (retrieved online May 25, 2021).
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Ali is the daughter of Robert and Nora Bryant. She has an older sister, Robin, and younger brother, Robert. She spent her early years in
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in
Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2006, having previously earned her bachelor's degree in human services management from the
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472:, December 2019. Peoria, Illinois: Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc. (retrieved online, May 25, 2021.
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438:." Peoria, Illinois: WCBU-Peoria Public Radio, September 1, 2020 (retrieved online May 25, 2021).
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295:"It's Official: Rita Ali Makes Peoria History As First Woman, African American To Become Mayor"
422:." Peoria, Illinois: WCBU-Peoria Public Radio, March 18, 2021 (retrieved online May 25, 2021).
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326:"Historic night for Peoria: Rita Ali sworn in as city's first female, Black mayor"
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161:(born January 31, 1958) is an American politician serving as the 47th mayor of
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and her master's degree in education administration from
Bradley University.
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261:"Dr. Rita Ali sworn in as Peoria's first Black female mayor"
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420:Q&A: Rita Ali States Her Case For Peoria Mayor
436:Councilwoman Rita Ali Is Running For Peoria Mayor
197:with the help of a full-tuition scholarship (the
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563:21st-century African-American women politicians
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293:Shelly, Tim; Deacon, Joe (April 20, 2021).
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227:in 2004.
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