MEET EVANSVILLE DEPUTY MAYOR STEPHEN J. SCHAEFER

Steve Schaefer serves as the 1st Deputy Mayor of Evansville, Indiana, while maintaining the duties of Chief of Staff for Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.

Schaefer has helped oversee and manage substantial transformation throughout the city. Together with Mayor Winnecke, he coordinated funding and development of a new downtown convention hotel, secured a full cloverleaf interchange at U.S. 41/Lloyd, worked with economic development officials to recruit/retain thousands of jobs, retained the LST 325 here in Evansville, and leads the Mayor’s Aquatic Center Task Force that is responsible for construction of a new aquatic center.

Prior to his work on behalf of the city, Schaefer worked extensively in the public sector with business, education, government, and community initiatives. As Vice President of Public Policy for the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana, Schaefer closely worked with Governor Mitch Daniels and state legislators on the passage of the Major Move legislation and assisted in writing the government modernization statute, which grants any local unit of government the ability to consolidate functions.

During this time with the Chamber, Schaefer completed the 4-year Institute of Organizational Management (IOM) program through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for non-profit executives.

In 2006, Schaefer was named Executive Director of the Hoosier Voices for Interstate 69 (I-69) coalition and spearheaded advocacy efforts at the Indiana Statehouse that led to the historic groundbreaking in 2008.

Schaefer has also served on the legislative staffs of U.S. Congressman John Boehner (OH-08), John Hostettler (IN-08) and Dr. Larry Bucshon (IN-08).

In 2010, Schaefer was selected as a member of the inaugural “20 Under 40” class by the Courier & Press and was recognized as a United Neighborhood of Evansville Sparkplug of the Year in 2017.

Schaefer holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Public Administration from Indiana University and a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Southern Indiana (USI). He has worked as an Adjunct Professor teaching Political Science at Ivy Tech and various core subjects in the MPA program at USI.

He serves as Chairman of the Evansville Sports Corporation Board, Co-Chair of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Committee, Chairman of the YMCA Downtown Building Task Force, member of the YMCA Board of Directors, member of the Evansville Industrial Foundation Board of Directors, and Past President of the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Commissioners

Schaefer currently resides in Evansville with his wife Ashley and sons Jack & Leo. He coaches youth basketball and is an active member of several community organizations.