Rawlson is Ottawa's first black City Councillor. He was first elected in a historic by-election held April 15, 2019, to represent Rideau-Rockcliffe (Ward 13) and was re-elected on October 24, 2022. Before his election to public office, Rawlson was an entrepreneur and communications professional with more than 20 years of private sector experience in high-technology market research. For the 2022-2026 Council Term, Rawlson was appointed Chair of the Built Heritage Committee and serves on the following Committees: Community Services, Environment and Climate Change, and Finance and Corporate Services. Rawlson also serves as a Board member of the Board of Health and Quartier Vanier Business Improvement Area. Rawlson is Council Liaison for the City's Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives and was responsible for the creation of the City's Anti-Racism Secretariat in 2020, and currently leads the implementation of the City's Anti-Racism Strategy. A strong believer in public service, Rawlson previously served as President of the Overbrook Community Association (2014-2019), a board member at the Rideau-Rockcliffe Resource Centre (2011-2019), President of Gallery 101 (2011-2017) and was the first co-chair of the Ottawa Police Service Community Equity Council in 2018. Rawlson was a founding board member of the Rideau Winter Trail of Ottawa. Recognized for his volunteer work, Rawlson won a United Way Ottawa Community Builder of the Year Award in 2018 and was a recipient of a Special Recognition Award from Black History Ottawa in 2021. Rawlson earned a Bachelor's degree for Journalism and Law, and a Masters in Communication from Carleton University. A proud Carleton alumnus, he and his wife personally established the Rawlson King and Linda Grussani Scholarship for Indigenous, Black, and Racialized Students at Carleton University in 2022. Rawlson has lived with his wife in Overbrook since 2004.