Cynthia Lee Sheng has served as Jefferson Parish President since January 2020 and is the first woman to hold the position. Prior to becoming Parish President, she served as Councilwoman At-Large for Division B beginning in 2015, after representing District 5 on the Jefferson Parish Council since 2009.
During her time on the Council, Sheng’s work included the revitalization of Fat City, promoting green infrastructure and new approaches to living with water, and assisting in the resolution of a long-standing property dispute at the site that later became Jefferson Parish’s first Trader Joe’s. As Parish President, she has focused on efficiency, partnership, technology and government operations while leading Jefferson Parish through the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricane seasons and recovery from Hurricane Ida.
Sheng earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from George Washington University and is a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Before entering elected office, she spent 10 years as a federal law enforcement officer with the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Newark. She was also educated at Loyola University New Orleans.