Stephanie Summerow Dumas

Stephanie Dumas is the President of the Hamilton County Commission board in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has served eight years as a commissioner and is in her second term as president, having held the role three times previously. With nearly five decades in social work and over three decades in politics, Dumas previously served 12 years in municipal leadership as vice mayor and mayor of Forest Park and four years as village manager of Lincoln Heights, Ohio. She earned a Bachelor's of Social Work from the University of Cincinnati on a full academic scholarship and has been a licensed social worker in Ohio for approximately 30 years. Dumas is the first African American to hold a county commission position in Hamilton County and the first African American woman commissioner in the state of Ohio. In her role she oversees approvals for levies, nonprofit funding, infrastructure projects, a $2.3 billion budget, zoning, and boards including emergency management and job and family services. She created the INSPIRE initiative to provide experiences for young people and has advocated for suburban representation outside Cincinnati city limits. Dumas received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Cincinnati last year and the inaugural Building Bridges Award from Best Point this year for bridging political and social service agencies. She has authored three books drawing from her experiences and values compassion, honesty, integrity, dependability, consistency, and flexibility in her work.