Danny Avula

Meet our March LOCAL speaker: The Mayor of Richmond, Pediatrician, and Community Advocate Dr. Danny Avula.
Dr. Danny Avula is the 81st Mayor of the City of Richmond. A pediatrician, public health leader, and longtime Richmond resident, Danny has spent his career working at the intersection of health, equity, and community.

Before being elected mayor, Danny served the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts for 12 years, including six years as Director, where he focused on increasing access to care for the most vulnerable residents in our region. His work emphasized listening to people with lived experience, addressing the connections between housing and health, and tackling the deeper forces that shape health outcomes, including poverty and race.

In 2021, Governor Ralph Northam appointed Danny to lead Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccination effort. Under his leadership, the state’s rollout quickly accelerated, moving Virginia from 50th to among the top ten most-vaccinated states in the country. As the pandemic eased, Governor Glenn Youngkin appointed Danny as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services, where he led transformational efforts to support families and expand pathways out of poverty.

Danny continues practicing medicine as a pediatric hospitalist at Chippenham Hospital.

Born in India, Danny immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1979. He and his wife, Mary Kay, an educator with Richmond Public Schools, have lived in Richmond’s East End for more than two decades and are raising their five children there.

Danny holds degrees from the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Johns Hopkins. Over the years he has been recognized as one of Richmond’s “Top Docs,” a Richmond Times-Dispatch Person of the Year, and Style Weekly’s Richmonder of the Year.

For our March CreativeMornings theme LOCAL, Mayor Avula joins our host Linzy George for a conversation about the power of belonging to a place, to its people, and to the shared work of building a healthier, more connected community.