Although Birmingham City Council President Wardine Alexander may have joined local government for what she calls “selfish” reasons, she has spent the last five years working to make her lifelong home a better place for future generations.

Since 2018 Alexander has represented Birmingham’s District 7 which mostly covers the city’s southwestern neighborhoods such as Jones Valley and Garden Highlands. In 2021 she was elected to her position as council president by her fellow councilors.

Wardine said this year her focus is, as always, on improving the city’s education but also on making Birmingham a safe and clean space for all its residents.

I read that you came from a long career in laboratory medicine. So, what inspired you to switch from that to local government?

Actually, one of my jobs. I was in clinical laboratory medicine for almost 40 years, but I spent my last 19 years at a pharmaceutical manufacturer where I was onboarding new hires. And these hires consisted of recent college graduates. And I found that in onboarding them through new employee orientation that there was a difference in where those students had matriculated in high school and their ability to learn procedure and learn independently.