Shayla D. Favor Delivers on Promises to Better Quality of Life for Columbus, Ohio Residents
Columbus City Councilmember Shayla D. Favor has been serving on the City Council since she was appointed to fill an unexpired term on January 14, 2019. She was elected to a full term in November 2019 and re-elected in November 2023, where she received more votes than any candidate on the ballot in Columbus. Most recently Favo has been named a real Times Media Who’s Who In Black notable for her works on behalf of the residents of Columbus Ohio.
“On behalf if the Who’s Who In Black Columbus, Ohio team, am so excited about the history making election of Shayla Favor as the first woman and Black Woman to be elected as Prosecutor for Franklin County, Ohio,” states Dr. Carter Womack, an official for Who’s Who In Black Columbus. Who’s Who In Black is the premier platform recognizing and celebrating African American professionals, business executives, community leaders and entrepreneurs over the past three decades.
On Council, Favor chairs the Housing, Health & Human Services, Public Safety, Criminal Justice & Judiciary Committees. As a member of the Council, she intentionally focuses on ensuring that everything that she legislates and advocates for is filtered through an equity lens to address the disparities we often find in historically marginalized communities through policy. Over the last four years, she has created the Columbus Youth Council, spearheaded the effort to amplify and fund Deliver Black Dreams, expanded the City’s effort to protect immigrant and refugee families through the Columbus Families Together Fund, legislated policies intended to address housing insecurity with the Housing for All legislative package, advocated for public safety reforms with the Reimagining Safety Initiative, led and passed an effort to end the sale of flavored tobacco to stop the youth smoking epidemic, championed a comprehensive reproductive justice legislative package and led and passed the gun safety legislative package.
Prior to joining City Council, Favor served as an Assistant City Attorney in the Columbus City Attorney’s office under Rick Pfeiffer and Zach Klein. As a Zone Attorney in the Environmental Division, she tried hundreds of cases in court while serving Columbus’s Downtown, Near East, and Southside areas. Tasked to eliminate public nuisance activity in Columbus’ neighborhoods, including narcotics sales, violent crime, deteriorating housing, prostitution, liquor violations, and excessive noise, Favor wholeheartedly believes in the power of transformative prosecution that takes a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach to public safety. Additionally, this position allowed Favor to prosecute code violations, litigate high-profile environmental lawsuits, advise administrative and local governmental agencies, and draft legislation before joining Columbus City Council.
Favor is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve her community as the Executive Director of Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT) during their essential transition period. PACT was created to create a healthy, financially, and environmentally sustainable community where residents have access to safe and affordable housing, quality healthcare and education, and employment opportunities on the Near East Side of Columbus. Under her leadership, she worked to lead the organization through its first strategic planning process since its creation over 11 years ago, created the economic mobility and strategic roadmap for the disbursement of over $20 million into the community through the Empowering Black Futures campaign, expanded its flagship home repair program to now also address generational wealth and financial literacy; obtained a multi-year grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation to address food insecurity and the lack of access to healthy food on the Near East Side and strengthened partnerships to address the digital divide.
Shayla Favor is running for Franklin County Prosecutor because she believes that we can become a model county that addresses public safety while also working to reform an unjust and inequitable system. Favor wants to see the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office lead with transparency, tackle violent crime while also being a voice for victims, prioritize accountability, and honor the dignity and respect of all Franklin County residents. As the following Franklin County Prosecutor, she would work to implement evidence-based justice programs that seek to minimize court involvement and unnecessary incarceration, reduce reoffending, keep people free of criminal records, and be able to work and direct those in need of treatment to available resources.
Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Favor chose Franklin County as her home after attending The Ohio State University and Capital Law School. Favor is deeply connected to the safety and success of our community. Favor lives on the Near-Eastside of Columbus with her husband, Corey Favor, and their pups, Hudson and Arizona.