Former Senator Maida Coleman was appointed to the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC) in August 2015.

In addition to her service on the MPSC, Commissioner Coleman is on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Board of Directors, the Broadband Expansion Task Force and was recently appointed as Chairman of the Select Committee on Regulatory and Industry Diversity. She’s also on the following NARUC committees: Consumers and the Public Interest and Telecommunications. Commissioner Coleman is a member of the NARUC and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Natural Gas Infrastructure Modernization Partnership. In addition, Commissioner Coleman is a member of the Critical Consumer Issues Forum Advisory Committee, the Center for Public Utilities Advisory Council, and the Advisory Council for the Electric Power Research Institute’s Board of Directors.  

Commissioner Coleman regularly moderates and speaks for numerous community and energy regulatory events. Commissioner Coleman also facilitated a workshop for the United States Agency for International Development Ethiopia Energy Regulatory Partnership in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and a Peer Review on Emergency Preparedness and Public Consultation in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Commissioner Coleman is a guest columnist for the St. Louis County Community News.

Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Coleman was the Director of the Missouri Office of Community Engagement. She previously served as Executive Director of the Missouri Workforce Investment Board at the Department of Economic Development, and in a leadership role at the Missouri Department of Labor.

From 2001 until 2009, Commissioner Coleman served as a State Representative and State Senator from St. Louis, becoming the first African-American woman in state history to serve as Senate Minority Leader. 

While in the Missouri Senate, Commissioner Coleman sponsored the Hot Weather Law which prevents utilities from disconnecting cooling-related service for residential customers during summer weather extremes. She also sponsored legislation that became law to protect children from lead poisoning.

Commissioner Coleman previously held management level positions at the Missouri Secretary of State and the St. Louis Housing Authority. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of Heat-Up/Cool-Down St. Louis. 

Commissioner Coleman has a B.A. in Journalism from Lincoln University in Jefferson City and was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis.