Paige Cognetti, Pennsylvania

Paige Cognetti, mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is a first-generation college graduate with an MBA from Harvard Business School. From 2009 to 2012, she was a senior advisor to the Under Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury; she later advised the Pennsylvania Auditor General on school and elder care oversight and served on the Scranton School Board. As Scranton's first woman mayor, she led the city out of 30 years of state-designated financial distress to an investment-grade credit rating, championing responsible budgeting and honest government.