Steve Adler was Austin’s Mayor (2015 to 2023). He focused on equity, infrastructure, public safety and preserving the city's magical quality of life. Adler helped initiate transportation and mobility projects of over $25 Billion. He led the city through many major natural disasters, including COVID with a mortality rate less than half that of the US. During his service, Austin was 1st in US News & World Report city rankings; and led the US in building new housing. One of the safest big US cities, Austin reimagined public safety and aggressively changed its systems and institutions to achieve greater equity and justice. Adler helped lead the United States Conference of Mayors and the Democratic Mayors Ass’n, and has been honored by Politico, Living Cities, the Austin Area Urban League, and the Penn Institute for Urban Research. He served on CISA’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. He is a Professor of Practice at the LBJ School, University of Texas; an adjunct professor and Fellow at the St. Edwards University’s Kozmetsky Institute, and has a Special Distinguished Faculty Appointment at Huston Tillotson University.  Adler litigates real estate takings cases as law partner at Fritz, Byrne Law, PLLC. Adler is an Operating Partner for the NYC VC firm, Commonweal Ventures; Special Advisor to the US Round Table and to many early stage startups; pre-IPO investor in Reddit; LP with Factorial Capital, a VC fund focused on early stage, engineering-led teams building AI-native companies. Married to Diane, father to three daughters and “Bup” to five grandkids.

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