Steve Benjamin is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He was elected Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina in April of 2010 with a vision of transforming South Carolina's capital city into a talented, educated & entrepreneurial city of the New South. He served as Mayor until December of 2021. He currently serves as President & CEO of The Benjamin Firm, LLC. Major Benjamin has served as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (2018-2019), as President of the African American Mayors Association, as Co-Chair of the Sierra Club’s Mayors for 100% Clean Energy, among others.
He currently serves as Chairman of the First Net Authority Board of Directors, as Co-Chair of The BGR Group Advisory Board and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and as a member of the Boards of Trustees of The National Judicial College and Benedict College, among others. He is married to the Honorable DeAndrea Gist Benjamin. The Benjamins are the proud parents of two daughters and are members of the Saint John Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina.