Deb Mexicotte - Ann Arbor

Deb Mexicotte is a trustee of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education, a position she's held since she was first elected in 2003. She serves as president of the board.

Deb Mexicotte at a 2013 Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education meeting. (Photo courtesy of The Ann Arbor Chronicle.)

Professionally, she is associate director of a2ru/ArtsEngine, a consortium of over 30 organizations working to integrate the arts into interdisciplinary research. Prior to that job she worked for more than 20 years in various roles at the University of Michigan, primarily in arts-related administrative roles.

Before her election to the school board in 2003, Mexicotte had been active in AAPS as a parent. In the 1990s she served as parent representative to the AAPS Redistricting Committee for Pittsfield Elementary School. She also was founding member and chair of the Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education.

She has lived in Ann Arbor since 1980, when she arrived to work on a master's degree at the University of Michigan. Mexicotte is married to Brian Chambers with three children – Olivia, Fletcher and Elinor. They live on the east side of Ann Arbor, near Sylvan Park and Pittsfield Elementary School.

Timeline

August 2015: Begins job as associate director of a2ru/ArtsEngine.
January 2015: Is re-elected by her peers on the AAPS board to serve her sixth year as board president.
Nov. 6, 2012: Wins re-election to her fourth consecutive term on the AAPS board of education by defeating Dale Leslie in a non-partisan race. The four-year term runs through 2016. Mexicotte gets 31,440 votes (63.19%) compared to 17,761 votes (35.69%) for Leslie.
Nov. 15, 2010: Wins re-election to her third term on the AAPS board of education. She is unopposed for this two-year partial term, and gets 26,553 votes.
2009: Serves as board chair for the Arts Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes the arts countywide.
2007: Begins work as program director of Arts at Michigan, which integrates arts and culture into the undergraduate experience.
May 8, 2006: Is re-elected to a second term on the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education. She gets 4,016 votes in this nonpartisan race, elected to a four-year term. She is one of two candidates running for two seats. The other candidate, Susan Baskett, gets 5,342 votes.
DATE? Works as director of arts and programs at the Michigan Union.
June 2003: Wins election to her first three-year term on the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education. She gets 5,056 votes, coming in first in a field of seven nonpartisan candidates. The top three vote-getters secured seats on the board.
2001: Serves as program coordinator for the Dance for Mother Earth/Ann Arbor Pow Wow.
1999: Is named Student Organization Adviser of the Year at UM.
1996: Serves as parent representative to the AAPS Redistricting Committee for Pittsfield Elementary School.
DATE? Works as office manager and program manager for UM's Office of Student Activities and Leadership.
DATE? Works as facilities coordinator for the University of Michigan Student Theater Arts Complex.
DATE? Earns master of arts degree in scene and costume design from the University of Michigan.
1980: Moves to Ann Arbor as a graduate student at UM.
DATE? Receives BFA in theatre from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.