Mayor Lajan Cephas-Bey is a proud native of Cambridge and a graduate of Cambridge-South Dorchester High School.
She attended Salisbury University, where she majored in business, and went on to provide management support to two Fortune 1000 companies over a 15-year career. During this time, she briefly owned and operated a transportation company, which she successfully sold.
Mayor Cephas-Bey later found her passion in public safety. She graduated from the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy with a focus in corrections and rose to the rank of Corporal with the Dorchester County Department of Corrections, where she served as an Assistant Shift Commanding Officer. She also served as a Drill Instructor at the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy, training new correctional officers across Maryland’s Eastern Shore in partnership with Wor-Wic Community College.
Before being elected Mayor, Lajan served four years as the Ward Two Commissioner and was elected Commission President by the Commissioners of Cambridge. In that role, she led and influenced numerous initiatives aimed at building safe, thriving communities, including:
- The Healthy Homes Initiative
- Implementation of a Juvenile Curfew
- Establishment of the Gun Violence Reduction Task Force
- Deployment of ShotSpotter technology
- Property tax credits for public safety officers
- Creation of the Land Bank Authority of Cambridge
- Securing direct federal funding for key city projects
Mayor Cephas-Bey has also served at the state and national levels. Under both the Hogan and Moore administrations, she was appointed to the State Advisory Committee with the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Public Policy. She is a current board member of the Mid-Shore Regional Council and President-Elect of the Eastern Shore Association of Municipalities.
She served as a board member of the Maryland Municipal League, the Public Safety and Crime Prevention (PSCP) Federal Advocacy Committee and the Council on Youth, Education, and Families with the National League of Cities (NLC). She is also a former board member of the Heart of Chesapeake Country Heritage Area.
Mayor Cephas-Bey believes that economic development, coupled with robust workforce development, is essential to advancing Cambridge and Dorchester County. She frequently honors the legacy of the “Four Horsemen”—Donald Holdt, Herman Stevens, Bob Davis, and Phil Williams—who, in 1959, were appointed by the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce to revive a local economy facing 25% unemployment. Their leadership attracted 18 new industrial businesses and created more than 2,000 jobs by the early 1970s.
Five years ago, Mayor Cephas-Bey transitioned from public safety to a new career in the insurance industry, where she is now a licensed insurance professional.
She is a proud member of the historic Bethel AME Church in Cambridge and enjoys spending time with her husband, Joe, and their three adult sons. She is also the older sister of Sputty Cephas, the current Commission President of the City of Cambridge.