Clarence Anthony

Clarence Anthony, CEO and executive director of the National League of Cities, is a lifelong champion of municipal government. From the offices of City Hall in South Bay, Florida, where he was mayor for 24 years, to the national stage he now occupies, Anthony has forged a career centered around the needs of communities and the people who lead them.

Anthony was first elected mayor at age 24, and over the span of nearly a quarter century, he created educational and economic development opportunities for South Bay residents, and built the community’s first library.

While mayor, he became president of the Florida League of Cities in 1995, and of the NLC in 1999. He was part of the founding group of Palm Beach County Black Elected Officials and Discover Palm Beach County, the tourism development council. He also served as first vice president of the International Union of Local Authorities.

After leaving the mayor’s office, Anthony represented local governments as founding treasurer and interim manager of United Cities and Local Governments. He also founded Anthony Government Solutions, a firm focused on strategic visioning, policy development and management restructuring for government and private sector organizations.

In 2013, Anthony became CEO of the NLC, the nation’s largest and oldest organization representing America’s municipalities and their leaders. Under Anthony’s leadership, the NLC successfully advocated for federal pandemic relief through the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, and championed the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to support transportation, broadband and water projects in communities nationwide.

Anthony has also focused on helping local leaders as they confront increasing hostility, having authored a 2021 report, “On the Frontlines of Today’s Cities: Trauma, Challenges, and Solutions,” examining the decline of civility and democratic institutions at the local level.

Anthony serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Illinois Chicago Urban Forum, and is a member of the Board of Destination DC. He has also served on The GEO Group’s board of directors, and in 2021 was named as a member of the Council on Underserved Communities. In 2020, he received the National Forum for Black Public Administrators Marks of Excellence Award.

He has a master’s degree in public administration, with a specialization in city growth management policy, from Florida Atlantic University.