PERSON: Garlin Gilchrist II

State of Michigan

Lieutenant Governor

Garlin Gilchrist II (born September 25, 1982) is an American politician and engineer serving as the 64th lieutenant governor of Michigan since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Gilchrist moved to Redmond, Washington and worked for Microsoft for four years, as a software engineer, where he helped build SharePoint. Next, Gilchrist worked as a community organizer and director of new media for the Center for Community Change, now known as Community Change. Later, Gilchrist worked for MoveOn.org in Washington, D.C., as national campaign director.

In July 2014, Gilchrist moved back to Detroit, working for the city government under chief information officer Beth Niblock as the director of innovation and emerging technology. He created the Improve Detroit smartphone app that allows residents to report issues for the city to address. He served as founding executive director of the Center for Social Media Responsibility, within the University of Michigan School of Information, from the University of Michigan Detroit Center.

In 2017, Gilchrist ran for Detroit City Clerk against incumbent Janice Winfrey. He lost by 1,482 votes.

Gilchrist was selected as a Community Change Champion in Community Organizing in 2019 for his work to advance social and racial justice in the United States.

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