LOS ANGELES—Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Mayor of Los Angeles, has joined Edelman as a senior advisor.

According to global public affairs chair Katie Burke, “Antonio’s ability to build coalitions across ideological divides in order to find solutions to some of today’s leading challenges for government and business will be an invaluable resource for our clients.”

Villaraigosa has added several new positions since leaving office. He was recently named senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, DC, think tank, and was named an advisor to Herbalife, the nutritional products company currently battling allegations that it operates an illegal pyramid scheme.

During his tenure as the 41st mayor of Los Angeles from 2005-2013, Villaraigosa’s accomplishments include doubling the number of Los Angeles Unified School District campuses meeting the state’s academic performance goals; expanding the city’s subway and light rail systems; reducing travel time for drivers and eliminating a metric ton of carbon emissions; meeting the Kyoto Protocol goal for reducing greenhouse gases four years ahead of schedule; increasing the city’s park space; and putting 1,000 more police officers on the streets, reducing crime rates to their lowest level in 60 years.

At the national level, Villaraigosa also served as president of the US Conference of Mayors, where he championed education reform and expanded investment in America’s transportation infrastructure. Additionally, he chaired the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Prior to his terms as Mayor, Villaraigosa held the 14th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council and was elected Speaker of the California State Assembly.