Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati

Sangeetha Rayapati is Mayor of Moline, IL, the largest of the Illinois Quad Cities on the banks of the Mississippi River.  Before serving as mayor, she was President and Vice-President of the Moline-Coal Valley School Board and volunteered time in musical and community organizations focused on education and leadership.  She has centered her administration on supporting council priorities around infrastructure, quality of life, and the economy while simultaneously pursuing mayoral priorities of providing opportunity and connectedness for residents. Among her achievements are newly created internships for high school students throughout city departments and ARPA-funded programs to expand childcare workforce infrastructure for local families. In 2022 she created Good Gatherings to bring the community together and increase understanding between its residents.  She is a 2020 recipient of the YWCA’s Race against Racism Award and is a 2020 graduate of the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy.

In addition to her mayoral duties, she is a Professor of Music at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois where she teaches a variety of general education courses, leads the Pre-Music Therapy advising program and the Aging Studies Experiential Minor, and teaches in the Augustana Prison Education Program.  She holds undergraduate degrees in Nursing and Music from Valparaiso University and graduate degrees in Music from the University of Minnesota and is the author of books and articles on voice pedagogy for older singers.