West Chester-raised Sangeetha Rayapati wears many hats. However, all of her titles revolve around a shared tenant: collaboration, writes Gretchen Teske for the Quad City Times.

Whether it was collaborating with doctors as a nurse, students as a teacher, other elected officials as a community leader, or other musicians as a pianist and vocalist, Rayapati works well with others.  

“As a musician, you are trained to be a collaborator,” she said. “Working with others to get everything done is part of how I manage any of the times where it can get overwhelming.” 

Now the mayor of Moline, Illinois, Rayapati has an untraditional career trajectory. From an early age, she always wanted to help people.  

After double majoring in Nursing and Music at her undergrad university in Indiana, Rayapati was a nurse for three years. She then went on to get her Master’s and Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota and transitioned to teaching.  

She took her first professor job in 2001 and now leads the voice program at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Her political life began in 2017 when she started a four-year term at the Moline-Coal Valley School Board.  

Then in 2021, her mayoral campaign proved a success, winning her the position by 64 percent of votes.  

Read more about the West Chester-raised musician, nurse, teacher, and mayor in the Quad City Times.  

Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati sits down with The Cities on WQPT.