Karen Majewski began public service on the City of Hamtramck, Michigan’s Historical Commission. She served on city council and as city council president and mayor pro tem before being elected Hamtramck’s first woman mayor in 2005. She was re-elected in 2009 and again in 2013. From 2000 to 2007, Hamtramck was under emergency management under Public Act 72. In 2013 the city again fell under emergency management, under Public Act 436. Majewski sits on the board of directors of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance, and served on the executive board of the MSA’s Millennial Mayors Congress. She is a former board member of the Michigan Municipal League, and served as MML’s president in 2011-2012. She has a Ph.D. in American Culture from the University of Michigan, and is Project Manager at the University’s Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy.