Donna Edwards
Donna Edwards represented Maryland in Congress from 2008 to 2017. She is the first black woman elected to congress from the state.
She earned BA from Wake Forest University, where she was one of only six black women in the class of 1980.
After college, Edwards began her career at the United Nations Development Program. In addition to her service at the UN, she worked for the Lockheed Corporation at the Goddard Space Flight Center with the Spacelab program. She earned a law degree in 1989 from the University of New Hampshire School of Law.
Edwards co-founded and led the National Network to End Domestic Violence, spearheading the effort to pass the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. She was the executive director of the Arca Foundation and Center for a New Democracy and was a tireless advocate for Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy nonprofit organization.
Elected in a special election in June 2008, Edwards became Maryland’s first African American woman in Congress, where she served five terms. After leaving Congress, she served as a fellow at the Brennan Center.
Ran for:
House of Representatives
Location:
Maryland
Prior LPAC Endorsement: 2012