Ayanna Pressley is an advocate, a policy-maker, an activist, and a survivor. On November 6, 2018, she was elected to represent Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, making her the first woman of color to be elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

 Ayanna believes that the people closest to the pain should be closest to the power, and that a diversity of voices in the political process is essential to crafting more effective public policy. She was born in Cincinnati and raised in Chicago, Ayanna is the only child of a single mother and a father who was in and out of the criminal legal system. Ayanna’s mother, Sandra Pressley, was a tenants’ rights organizer who instilled in her the value of civic engagement. 

In her first term in Congress, Ayanna introduced legislation to ensure fair compensation for low-wage workers, to support survivors of sexual assault and harassment, and to fundamentally reimagine our criminal legal system. She has been a strong voice for women, minorities and progressive values.