COUNTRY OF BIRTH

United States

INDUSTRY

Politics, Law, Activism

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

Stacey Abrams served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017 and served as minority leader for the last seven years of her term. In 2018, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, an organization that fights voter suppression. Also in 2018, Abrams was the Democratic party’s nominee in the Georgia gubernatorial election, the first female African-American to score a leading party's nomination. In 2019, Abrams became the first female African-American to deliver a response to the State of the Union address.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Stacey Abrams was born in 1973 in Madison, Wisconsin but was raised in Mississippi and Georgia. She attended Avondale High School and was a typist and speechwriter for a congressional campaign. She graduated as valedictorian and went on to earn a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies from Spelman College. She continued on to the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs and completed a Master of Public Affairs degree. She then completed her law degree at Yale Law School.

EARLY CAREER

While in college, Stacey Abrams worked in the office of the mayor of Atlanta. She then worked as an intern at the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). After graduating from Yale Law School, she worked as a tax attorney at Atlanta’s Sutherland Asbill & Brennan law firm. In 2010, Abrams co-founded NOW Corp., a financial services firm, and served as the senior vice president. In 2002, Abrams was appointed deputy city attorney for the City of Atlanta. In 2007, she was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives for the 89th district. In 2017, Abrams left the House of Representatives to focus on her campaign for governor of Georgia. She became the first African-American woman to be a major party’s nominee for governor and was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama. She lost the election to Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, by 50,000, even though a district judge found that Kemp’s office was in violation of the Help America Vote act both before and after the election. In her concession speech, Abrams announced that she was creating a non-profit organization called Fair Fight Action to battle voter suppression. In 2020, Abrams sought to become Joe Biden’s VP running mate but was shortlisted for the position. Ultimately, Kamala Harris was chosen. Abrams was selected as one of 17 speakers to deliver a keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

ACHIEVEMENTS IN GEORGIA

During her tenure in Georgia’s House of Representatives, Abrams successfully blocked the largest tax increase in Georgia history. She helped push through criminal justice reforms that reduced prison costs without increasing crime. Abrams also worked with Republicans on Georgia’s largest public transportation funding package. In 2020, Abrams was credited with giving Joe Biden a large boost in Democratic votes in Georgia and 800,000 new voter registrations.

RECOGNITION

Stacey Abrams has won many awards. Here are some of them:

• In 2012, Abrams received the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award from the Kennedy Library and Harvard University's Institute of Politics
• In 2014, she was named Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine
• From 2012 to 2017, she was named one of the "100 Most Influential Georgians" by Georgia Trend

ADDITIONAL FACTS

• Stacey Abrams is one of six children and her parents are Methodist ministers
• Abrams has written several romantic suspense novels under the pen name Selena Montgomery. She won the Reviewer's Choice Award and the Reader's Favorite Award from Romance In Color for Best New Author.