Patricia Lock Dawson
Appointed April 2025 by Governor Gavin Newsom
Term ends December 31, 2026
Patricia Lock Dawson is a proud Riverside native currently serving her second term as Mayor of the City of Riverside. A lifelong public servant and advocate for environmental sustainability, Mayor Lock Dawson brings decades of experience in every level of government.
She holds a Master of Business Administration from Claremont Graduate University, a Master of Science in Forestry from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology (Ecology) from the University of California, Riverside.
From 1994 to 2001, Lock Dawson held several key positions within the U.S. Department of the Interior including the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Geological Survey, serving as an ecologist, ecosystem planner, and wildlife biologist.
Lock Dawson founded and led PLD Consulting Governmental Affairs from 2001 to 2020, where she specialized in public policy and environmental planning. She also served as principal consultant for the Santa Ana River Parkway and as an environmental programs advisor at the Riverside County Executive Office.
Additionally, she served as a Trustee on the Riverside Unified School District Board of Education from 2011 to 2020.
As Mayor, Lock Dawson has championed the development of Riverside’s "Clean and Green Tech Hub," successfully attracting national and international clean technology firms to establish headquarters in the city. Her vision is to position Riverside as a leader in sustainability-driven economic development and innovation.
She currently chairs California’s Big City Mayors Coalition and the Legislative, Communications & Membership Committee of the Southern California Association of Governments. She also serves on the boards of Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), the Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.