Sherman P. Lea was elected Mayor of the City of Roanoke on May 3, 2016. Mayor Lea began his political career as a member of Roanoke City Council on July 1, 2004, and has served 12 consecutive years, holding the position of Vice-Mayor between 2008 and 2010. During his tenure, Mayor Lea has served as Chairperson of the Personnel Committee, and a member of the Audit and Legislative Committees. As a member of the City Council, Mayor Lea formed the Domestic Violence Task Force in 2005 and began the annual Lea Youth Outdoor Basketball League in 2015 and the Lea’s High School Winter Classic Basketball Challenge in 2015.As a professional, Mayor Lea spent 36 years with the Virginia Department of Corrections assisting people with criminal convictions as they re-entered the community upon release from incarceration. His career dates back to 1976 when he began working as the Institutional Parole Officer with the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland. Mayor Lea later served as the Adult Probation and Parole Officer, from 1978 to 1984, working in Danville and Pittsylvania County.

In 1984, he was named Chief Probation and Parole Officer becoming the first African American to hold that position in Virginia. Mayor Lea was promoted in 1992 to the Western Regional Director. Despite his retirement in 2012, He continues to work with individuals seeking release from incarceration through his appointment in 2014 to the Virginia Parole Board by Governor Terry McAuliffe.

Additionally, Mayor Lea is the founder and president of S.P. Lea & Associates, facilitating training sessions on topics including leadership, management theories and practices, and maintaining the skills needed to remain successful in our ever-changing work environment. He has facilitated workshops for various groups and at various institutions of higher learning including the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice and the Virginia University of Lynchburg. He has also conducted classroom lectures for educators studying to become superintendents.

Mayor Lea has been involved in numerous civic and volunteer activities; as well as committees, programs, and initiatives including:

• Member, Virginia Probation and Parole Association (VPPA)
• Member, National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ)
• Member, Virginia Correctional Association (VCA)
• Chair, State Board of Directors, Virginia CARES, Inc.
• Regional Surrogate, Attorney General Mark Herring Campaign>
• Former Chair, Board of Directors, Total Action for Progress (TAP)
• Former Chair, Roanoke City School Board
• Former Chair, Blue Ridge Regional School Board Association
• Former Member, Virginia School Board Association (VSBA)
• Founder and Chair of the Annual Western Virginia Education Classic Football Game
• Member, Board of Visitors, Livingstone College, Salisbury, North Carolina
• Former, Virginia High School League Football/Basketball Official
• Former, College Football Official (ACC, ODAC, and CIAA)

On September 20, 2019, Mayor Lea was inducted into the Virginia Union University Athletic Hall of Fame.Mayor Lea was awarded the 2010 William L. Hastie Award by the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) and named the 2014 Citizen of the Year by the Gamma Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Virginia Union University and an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters for Humanitarian Work in the Community from Bethlehem Bible College.

Personally, Mayor Lea is an Associate Minister of Garden of Prayer No. 7. He is married to the late Clara S. Lea, and the proud father to Erica L. Rosser and Sherman P. Lea, Jr.; and the loving grandfather to twin granddaughters Jaylen and Mya, and grandson Jonathan, Jr.