Meet Lauren McLean

Drawing on a long history of public service and a great love for Boise, Mayor Lauren McLean is proudly serving her first term as our city’s 56th mayor.

She was sworn in on January 7, 2020 and - through challenges both global and local - immediately set to work towards her campaign promise of a 21st-century Boise for everyone with shared prosperity and safety across all neighborhoods, opportunity in clean energy jobs of the future, and preservation of our precious natural resources.

A Champion for Protection of Open Spaces

After graduating with honors from Notre Dame in 1997, Lauren married her high school sweetheart, Scott, and the two settled in Boise. In the middle of building a life and raising two children, Lauren jumped into politics and civic engagement work while earning her MPA in environmental policy from Boise State University.

In 2001, at just 27, Lauren led the historic Boise Foothills Open Space Campaign and successfully protected the Boise Foothills for future generations. She then served as a citizen commissioner on the City of Boise’s Parks Commission. In 2011, Lauren was appointed to Boise’s City Council, was twice re-elected, and selected by her peers to serve as Council President in 2017.

Making History, Living History

In 2019, Lauren McLean became the first woman ever elected to the office of Boise Mayor in the city’s 150 year history, winning a record-setting number of votes in a historic runoff.

Throughout the steep and extraordinary challenges of a global pandemic, national housing shortage, and deep political division, Mayor McLean has navigated her first term with courage and quiet determination. Standing strong for our Boise values of inclusion and belonging, she has worked diligently to deliver on the promise of a safe and welcoming city for everyone. Learn more about the accomplishments during her first three years here.

Lauren is an avid trail runner, mountain biker, backpacker, skier and reader. She can be spotted early in the morning running Boise’s foothills trails, commuting by bike to City Hall, and whenever possible she and Scott love to explore Idaho’s beautiful backcountry by foot, ski, or raft with their college-age children, Madeleine and Aiden.