Lottie H. Shackelford (born April 30, 1941) is an American politician who became the first woman to be appointed Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas in 1987. In 1993, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) by President Bill Clinton, making her the first African American woman to serve in such a role. She is also the longest serving Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), having served for 20 years. Biography Education Shackelford received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was a Senior Fellow at the Arkansas Institute of Politics and a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Career Shackelford's political career began in 1978 when she was elected to the Board of Directors for the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, and was re-elected citywide three times to that position before becoming the city's first woman Mayor. During her tenure in local government, Shackelford directed liaison activities for minority businesses and held leadership positions at the National League of Cities. Additionally, she presented papers on local government, economic development, and electoral politics, both nationally and internationally, and has led economic trade missions and conducted lecture tours in Europe, Asia, and Africa. For the past several decades, Shackelford has worked with the Democratic Party at the state and national level. She served as Secretary, Vice Chair, and Chair of the Arkansas State Democratic Committee, and was elected Secretary of the National Association of State Democratic Chairs. She was the first woman and second African American to serve as Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas, from January 1987 to December 1988. A member of the DNC, since the early 1980;s, Ms. Shackelford served as Co-Chair of the Platform Committee in 1984 and of the Rules Committee in 1988, and currently serves on the Resolutions Committee. Shackelford was appointed Co-Chair of the 1988 Democratic National Convention, held in Atlanta, Georgia. She has been a Delegate to every Democratic National Convention since 1980. Shackelford's political experience at the national level also includes advising presidential candidates, working on White House transition teams, and representing the administration abroad. In 1992, she was a Deputy Campaign manager for the Clinton/Gore Presidential Campaign and was later appointed Co-Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Clinton Transition Team. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Shackelford a US