Higher Heights For America PAC Endorses In New York City Mayor’s Race

BROOKLYN (April 20, 2021) –— Higher Heights for America PAC, the only political action committee exclusively dedicated to electing more progressive Black women at all levels, is announcing its ranked-choice endorsement in the race to elect the next mayor of New York City.  Higher Heights for America PAC endorses civil rights attorney, Maya Wiley as the first choice and non-profit executive Dianne Morales as the second choice headed into the June 22nd election where the city’s new ranked-choice system will make its debut in this year’s city-wide election.

Black women are running and winning as mayors of the top 100 largest cities including Higher Heights for America PAC’s endorsed candidate Tishaura Jones, who is taking office today as first Black woman mayor of St. Louis.

The U.S. has seen a steady increase in the number of Black women mayors of major cities.  In 2014 only two Black women were elected and serving as mayors, we now have eight Black women and 2021 is shaping up to be a year where Black women candidates are poised to expand their leadership roles as top executives running our country’s largest cities.

Maya Wiley’s qualifications and lived experience fighting for the civil rights of all New Yorkers during her time in City Hall has prepared her to lead on day one in uniting and leading the national most diverse cities through twin pandemics — coronavirus and systemic racism.   As Counsel to the Mayor, she delivered for New York City on civil and immigrant rights, women and minority-owned business contracts, universal broadband access, and more. After leaving City Hall, she held police accountable as Chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board and worked to improve public education as a Co-Chair of the School Diversity Task Force.

Dianne Morales is seeking to be the first Afro-Latina to lead New York City and is the only former New York City public school teacher in this race. As a community activist, Morales has decades of experience leading organizations working to ensure that New Yorkers have equitable access to programs and services to help them thrive.  She has worked to provide services for New York’s homeless youth, developed and implemented strategies to fight for LBGTQ young adults, created career training programs, and worked to address housing insecurity. Morales’s groundwork has positioned her to carry the voices of all New Yorkers into City Hall.

“This mayoral race has a diverse field and we are proud to endorse two Black women candidates that are ready to lead the city of New York,” says Higher Heights PAC President and CEO Glynda Carr. “They both have extensive backgrounds which uniquely qualify them to lead our nation’s largest city. The time is now to elect more Black women to be at decision-making tables to represent us.  Higher Heights for America PAC strongly encourages its members to support Maya’s and Dianne’s campaign with their time, talent, and resources.”