11 Women of Color Who Are Bringing Diverse Representation to Congress

These are the names to know.

November 10, 2016

Image may contain Catherine Cortez Masto Val Demings Human Person Audience Crowd Glasses Accessories and Accessory

The final results of this year’s election were shocking, to say the very least. Thousands of protestors across the country took to the streets after hearing the news that Donald Trump would be the new leader of the free world. While Hillary Clinton's loss means she won't be the first woman president of the United States, there were a lot of strides made in the House and Congress in terms of diverse representation. According to the Washington Post the number of women of color to serve in Congress has increased to 38 — a record number. Accomplished and resilient, these diverse women will bring necessary representation. This new roster of Congresswomen may not be as big of a change as anticipated, but their appointments show that we are moving forward in some ways.

Getty Images for Thurgood Marsha
1/12
Alma Adams, U.S. House, North Carolina
Dr. Alma Adams was first elected to represent the 12th Congressional District of North Carolina in November of 2014. Congresswoman Adams quickly thereafter was sworn in as the 100th woman to be elected to Congress. Dr. Adams is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and received her master’s degree in Art Education. She later earned her PhD from Ohio State University. She sits on the following House committees: Education and Workforce, Agriculture, Small Business, and Joint Economic. Representative Adams has especially focused on education reform, including but not limited to increasing funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Twitter/@LisaBRochester
2/12
Lisa Blunt Rochester, U.S. House, Delaware
Lisa Blunt Rochester began her career in public service as a caseworker for former Congressman Tom Carper, where she helped people undergoing hardships related to their Social Security benefits, disability insurance claims, IRS disputes, and housing needs. She was Delaware’s first African-American Deputy Secretary of Health and Social Services and State Personnel Director. During her time as State Personnel Director, Rochester was commissioned to investigate the Delaware State Police for racial and sexual discrimination. This resulted in the 2001 Blunt-Bradley Report, which reviewed the internal and external practices of the police.

Getty Images
3/12
Catherine Cortez Masto, U.S. Senate, Nevada
Catherine Cortez Masto was born in Nevada and served for eight years as Nevada’s attorney general. Her main initiatives included, but were not limited to, domestic violence and protecting middle-class families from fraudulent mortgage schemes and predatory lenders. While serving as the chief law enforcement officer of Nevada, Cortez Masto collaborated with law enforcement officials, treatment providers, and community figureheads and liaisons in order to battle the use and distribution of methamphetamine. Prior to holding the position of Chief Law Enforcement Officer, she was the assistant county manager for Clark County and was a federal criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington.
CQ-Roll Call,Inc.
4/12
Val Demings, U.S. House, Florida
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, to working-class parents, Val Demings was the first member of her family to graduate college. She earned her BS in Criminology from Florida State University. Early on in her career, she was a social worker and then decided to join the police force in Orlando. Upon graduation from the police academy, she received the Board of Trustees’ Award for Overall Excellence. She spent 27 years in nearly every department, including appointment as Commander of the Special Operations. In 2007, she became Orlando’s first female Chief of Police.

AP
5/12
Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Senate Illinois
Tammy Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and made history in 2014 when she was the first female veteran and the first Asian-American woman from Illinois elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. A veteran of the Iraq War, Duckworth challenged Donald Trump’s claims that it was “easy” to obtain a Purple Heart. She is also a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, a former head of the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs, and a retired Lt. Colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard. She’s known for fighting for the interests of the middle-class, including making the cost of college more affordable and improving access to affordable health care. She was cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which intends to close the wage gap and update the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
AP
6/12
Colleen Hanabusa, U.S. House, Hawaii
Colleen Hanabusa is a fourth-generation Japanese American and current resident of Hawaii. Hanabusa’s grandfathers were sent away to Japanese internment camps during WWII, which later influenced her civil rights advocacy. Prior to her appointment to the state senate, Hanabusa was a lawyer with her own practice. Her time in the senate saw her fighting for education and economic opportunities for working families. In 2006, she was elected president of the Hawaii senate. In 2010, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Los Angeles Times
7/12
Kamala Harris, U.S. Senate, California
The daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Kamala Harris was the first African American, the first South Asian and the first woman to serve as attorney general in the State of California. She attended law school at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. Upon graduation, she became a prosecutor with special interest toward women, families, and veterans. While serving as San Francisco District Attorney, she caused quite the stir when she decided not to issue the death penalty to a man who had been accused of killing a police officer. After the housing market crash, Harris successfully recuperated $20 billion for her state’s homeowners and crafted a Homeowner Bill of Rights in order to incite foreclosure reforms.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu
8/12
Pramila Jayapal, U.S. House, Washington
Pramila Jayapal moved to the United States from India by herself at 16 years old. Although it was a huge sacrifice to leave behind everything she’d known, Jayapal wanted to attended college in the States. After earning her MBA, she worked as a financial analyst and then got in the field of social justice as related to international public health. The rise in violence against Sikhs and Muslims after 9/11 motivated Jayapal to form OneAmerica, an immigrant, civil, and human rights advocacy organization. Her efforts resulted in helping over 23,000 new Americans to register to vote in Washington state.

AP
9/12
Stephanie Murphy, U.S. Senate, Florida
Stephanie Murphy is a first generation American and immigrated to the states when she was a year old. Murphy and her brother were the first in their family to attend college. After receiving her M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown, she worked as a national security specialist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In addition to being a business executive at Sungate Capital, she is an instructor of business and social entrepreneurship at Rollins College. Murphy is pro-choice.
LightRocket via Getty Images
10/12
Nydia Velazquez, U.S. House, New York
Nydia Velazquez grew up with eight other siblings in a small town in Puerto Rico. She was the first person in her family to receive a college education. After attending graduate school at New York University, she taught as an adjunct professor at Hunter College. In 1984, she was the first Latina appointed to serve on the New York City Council. During her time as the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs, she created “Atrevete” (Dare to Go for It!), a successful Latino voter registration program. In 1992, she became the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress.

Ron Sachs/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
11/12
Mazie Hirono, U.S. Senate, Hawaii
Mazie Hirono is the first Asian-American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate. Hirono was born in Japan but immigrated to Hawaii when she was 8 years old. Later, she attended the University of Hawaii and law school at Georgetown University. During her time as lieutenant governor, she focused on labor issues, creating the Hawaii Employers Mutual Insurance Company. Her push for education reform, namely pre-K programs, even earned recognition and support from President Obama.
Getty Images
12/12
Want more Teen Vogue? Like us on Facebook to stay in the know!