Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis was born and raised in Houston. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Southern University, a master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. He currently represents the diverse communities of Harris County Precinct One, which contains more than a million residents. He began his career as a public servant working as Chief of Staff for the late Congressman Mickey Leland and served 3 terms on the Houston City Council before joining the Texas Senate, where he served for more than 25 years before being elected to his current position as Harris County Commissioner in 2016. During his tenure in the Texas Senate, he successfully passed more than 630 pieces of legislation championing many vital issues impacting underserved communities. A passionate advocate for criminal justice reform, Commissioner Ellis chaired the Board of Directors for the Innocence Project from 2003 to 2017. In 2018, Commissioner Ellis was elected to serve as President of the National Association of Black County Officials (NABCO). In recent years Commissioner Rodney Ellis’ reputation as a proponent of bicycling has grown across the world. He has ridden with bicycling civic leaders in over 50 cities across the globe. He has taken the knowledge and best practices from those cities back to Houston, which like Los Angeles, is known for being car-centric. Through Commissioner Ellis’ efforts, Houston is undergoing a bicycling renaissance. He is an avid art collector and cycling enthusiast. Commissioner Ellis is married to Licia Green-Ellis and has four children.