Council Member Cara Mendelsohn was elected to the Dallas City Council in May 2019 to represent District 12 in Far North Dallas. Cara is an accomplished nonprofit executive and volunteer leader with a passion for building stronger communities.

On the Dallas City Council, Council Member Mendelsohn serves as Chair of the Government Performance and Financial Management committee, Vice Chair of Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee, Vice Chair of the Legislative Committee, and is a member of the public safety, transportation, and COVID-19 ad hoc committees. She was appointed to the Regional Transportation Council and elected to the National League of Cities Women in Municipal Government board of directors.

Professionally, before joining the City Council, Cara served as Executive Director of Rebuilding Together North Texas, a director of Visiting Nurse Association of Texas/Meals on Wheels of Dallas County, a director of The Samaritan Inn homeless shelter, and Chairman of the Collin County Homeless Coalition. Prior to having children, Cara had a career in human resource management in the banking and insurance industries.

Cara has served the City of Dallas as a volunteer on several task forces, commissions and committees, including the Vice Chair of the Citizen’s Homelessness Commission, the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness, the 2017 Bond Committee and Housing Policy Task Force committees.

Cara has an extensive record of volunteer service to the North Texas community that has been recognized with many civic awards, including "Volunteer of the Year" for Collin County from Volunteer Center of North Texas, two Life Member awards from PTA, the Service Learning Partnership Award from Collin College, the Homeless Advocate Award from the Baron and Blue Foundation, the Community Impact Award from Plano ISD, the Environmental Education Award from the City of Plano, the Shofar Award from Boy Scouts of America’s National Committee on Jewish Scouting, and the Board Leadership Award and a 15-year Board Service Award from Jewish Family Service of Dallas, of which she served as President for 2 years.

Cara earned a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin. She is married to her childhood sweetheart and they have 3 hilarious sons.

Current Council appointments:
*Government Performance and Financial Management, Chairman
*Housing and Homeless Solutions, Vice Chair
*Legislative Ad Hoc, Vice Chair
*Public Safety
*Transportation
*COVID-19 Ad Hoc
*Regional Transportation Council
*City Council Representative to Texas Municipal League Policy Summit
*Board of Directors, National League of Cities Women In Municipal Government