Candice Quarles

Candice Quarles served as a Councilmember for the City of DeSoto a suburb of Dallas, TX. Elected in 2016 She has established herself as a bold progressive champion for working class issues. Councilwoman Quarles sponsored and championed the policy to mark DeSoto as the first city in North Texas to offer Paid Parental Leave for all City Employees and the 4th city in the entire state of Texas to do so. She also championed the City of DeSoto’s MWBE program/policy to encourage minority participation in city contracting and lead a community-focused job fair called DeSoto Works, which is in its 6th cycle.

Candice’s leadership can be traced back when the St. Louis native moved to Texas and began registering voters in Southern Dallas with the Urban League of Greater Dallas Young Professionals through an initiative called the “Opportunity Compact” in 2007. She eventually served as Chair, Vice President and sequentially President of the chapter award winning chapter 2012-2014.

Candice obtained her bachelor’s degree at Missouri Western State University and master’s degree in HR Mgt at Webster University in St. Louis. Candice is also a class of 2022 student at the Kellogg School of Management @ Northwestern University in Evanston, IL to obtain her Executive MBA in Business Administration.

Candice has received numerous awards for her work in the community:

• 2014 Young Alumnus of the Year, Missouri Western State College
• 2014 National Urban League Young Professionals- Distinguished President of the Year by Dell
• 2015 National Urban League Young Professionals Southern Region Member of the Year
• 2019 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc Metropolitan Dallas- “Red Alert Award”
• 2019 National Urban League Young Professionals “Paid Leave Advocate HONORS Awardee”
• 2019 “Progressive Champion Award”, Young Elected Officials Network
• 2019 “Distinguished Service Award”, Tri-Cities NAACP Unit #6277

In her down time, Candice enjoys reading, volunteering, and traveling with her husband and spending time with their 6-year-old daughter.