Janelle Bynum knows that our voice isn’t heard in DC. She sees Congress playing political games, so she is working to fix what’s broken and bring practical solutions to real problems, not the ones that political parties care about. In Congress, she fights to shake things up and make the government work for us, not simply talk at us.
She knows what it takes to stand up to extremists on both sides of the aisle, and how to work with those who are serious about fixing things for Oregonians. She has a proven track record of bipartisan work to make our schools better, create more jobs, and make it possible to own a home again. Janelle is making sure that hard work once again pays off and that everyone in Oregon is heard in DC.
Now Congresswoman, Sarah looks forward to representing the communities of Maryland’s Anne Arundel, Howard, and Carroll Counties with the same energy and dedication to partnership on Capitol Hill. A proud graduate of Towson University and the Johns Hopkins University, Sarah lives in Annapolis with her dog Ollie, where she enjoys hiking, being on the water, and collecting oyster plates.
The most important title that Congresswoman Lucy McBath will ever hold is “Jordan’s Mom.” In 2012, Lucy’s seventeen-year-old son Jordan Davis was senselessly shot and killed by a man for playing loud music.
After the murderer’s conviction, Lucy left her 30-year career as a flight attendant to fight for common-sense gun laws. Raised in the Civil Rights Movement, Lucy continued the lessons of her childhood as she became an advocate to demand that our leaders stop the senseless shootings in America.
However, after watching leaders in Washington sit on their hands following the Parkland shooting—where students the same age as Jordan were subjected to the same senseless gun violence that ripped him away—Lucy decided that if leaders in Washington wouldn’t stand up to the NRA gun lobby, she would.
Lucy ran against an NRA-backed incumbent in the former seat of Newt Gingrich and won by only one percent of the vote. Since entering Congress, Lucy has passed numerous bills into law while staving off two attempts by Georgia Republicans to kick her out of Congress through partisan gerrymandering.
Among her bills passed include numerous bipartisan pieces of legislation to lower insulin costs for seniors, protect veterans facing financial hardship, and reform our nation’s gun laws for the first time in a generation through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Hailing from the heart of Newark’s Central Ward, LaMonica McIver is a dedicated public servant focused on nurturing communities and empowering the next generation. A proud product of the Newark educational system, her passion for public service was ignited by esteemed mentors like Mildred Crump, Ras Baraka and other local leaders during her foundational years.
LaMonica’s foray into politics began precociously at just 13, mobilizing youth and underscoring the power of civic participation. This early immersion, combined with her academic achievements – an English Literature degree from Bloomfield College and a master’s in educational leadership and policy from Seton Hall University – set her on a path that seamlessly blended education and governance.
Her distinguished tenure in the educational sector, notably as Personnel Director for Montclair Public Schools, is a testament to her leadership. LaMonica’s rise from a Future Business Leader for Newark Public Schools to pivotal HR roles across various public school districts showcases her adaptability, vision, and unparalleled commitment to institutional growth; to her most recent role as Public Affairs Manager with PSE&G.
Beyond her professional accolades, LaMonica’s heart beats for Newark. In 2012, she founded Newark G.A.L.S., Inc., an organization fiercely devoted to fostering female leaders of tomorrow. With her guidance, Newark G.A.L.S has touched the lives of over 3,000 young women through its transformative initiatives, leaving an indelible mark on the city’s future.
LaMonica’s role in the political arena, particularly as the youngest woman ever elected to the Newark Municipal Council in 2018 to serving as Council President and now as the Congressional Representative from CD-10, breaks barriers and redefines possibilities.
Congresswoman Lateefah Simon is a nationally recognized civil rights leader with more than three decades of experience at the intersection of movement building, government reform, public-private partnerships, and visionary institutional leadership.
Congresswoman Simon started her career at the Young Women’s Freedom Center at 16, later becoming the Executive Director of the Center at just 19 years old. She built one of the country’s most effective organizations serving young women and transgender youth impacted by incarceration, the underground street economy, and sexual violence. She won the MacArthur Genius Grant at age 26 for her work at the Young Women’s Freedom Center. Congresswoman Simon later partnered with then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris to head the Back on Track program, served as Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, and President of the Akonadi Foundation.
In 2016, Congresswoman Simon was elected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board of Directors and later President of the BART Board of Directors, becoming one of the only Black women in the nation to lead a major metropolitan transit agency. As BART Board President, she secured more than $3 billion in emergency funding to sustain transit operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also expanding accessibility, equity, and public safety programs across the region.
Congresswoman Simon has served on the boards of the California State University System, the San Francisco Foundation, Oxfam America, the ACLU of Northern California, and Human Rights Watch, among others.
In 2024, Congresswoman Simon was elected to represent California’s 12th Congressional District. Currently, she is one of the only members of Congress who is a single mother of a school-age child. Legally blind since birth, Congresswoman Simon also leads with a clarity shaped by lived experience and an agenda forged in the pursuit of justice, equity, and transformative change.
Melanie Stansbury is a proud New Mexican who has spent her career working to protect our lands and waters and address the critical issues facing our communities. As someone who grew up in a working family in Albuquerque, Melanie knows what it means to struggle to make ends meet and knows the urgency of bringing real solutions to help our families. Serving in the New Mexico House of Representatives (2019-2021), Melanie was a leader in tackling the pandemic, food and hunger issues, climate change, growing our economy and meaningful jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, and protecting our natural resources. As our Congresswoman, Melanie took that fight to Washington D.C. in 2021 because the stakes are high and New Mexico needs a leader who will fight for our communities and the issues that matter most. Rep. Stansbury currently sits on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
From her first day in Congress, Emilia has pledged to connect her community to Congress. She knows politics and Congress can be divisive, but she’s cut through the noise in D.C. to bring back critical federal resources and support to Ohio’s 13th Congressional District. In her first term in Congress, she secured over $100 million in federal dollars to the district and returned over $2 million directly to constituents.
Her work has been applauded by many in the community including the editorial board of the Akron Beacon Journal who said of her first year in office, “An effective lawmaker finds ways to assist those they were elected to serve and to advocate for their community, even when gridlock makes it nearly impossible to get laws passed. Sykes has taken this approach with her to Washington … representing Ohio’s 13th Congressional District.”
Rep. Sykes has focused her time as a Member of Congress as a champion for the people of Ohio’s 13th district by lowering costs, promoting good-paying jobs and growing our local economy, supporting organized labor, keeping our communities safe, protecting a women’s right to reproductive choice, a clean environment, protecting social security and medicare, and ensuring access to quality affordable healthcare and education.
Whether it’s the RAIL Act, the Mental Health Improvement Act, or the Lower Your Taxes Act, Congresswoman Sykes has put forth a bi-partisan legislative agenda and an unmatched commitment to this community in order to ensure everyone in Ohio’s 13th district can live their version of the American Dream in Northeast Ohio.
Congresswoman Sykes attended Kent State University, graduating with high honors with a B.A. in Psychology. She later attended the University of Florida, where she earned a Juris Doctor with a Certificate in Family Law and a Masters of Public Health. She is married to Kevin Boyce and values spending time with family, enjoying the arts, and appreciating the countless blessings life has offered her.
A’shanti Gholar is the President of Emerge. In this role, she leads the organization and steers its overall strategy and direction, overseeing a national staff as well as affiliates across the country. Her relationship with Emerge started in 2006 when she was a founding board member of Emerge Nevada. She then joined the national staff as our first Political Director and was the architect of Emerge’s national expansion from 15 to 27 states. Today, A’shanti is a nationally recognized political strategist with over two decades of experience as a grassroots organizer and activist for women, communities of color and progressive causes. Prior to coming to Emerge, A’shanti served as the National Deputy Director of Community Engagement and Director of African American Engagement for the Democratic National Committee. A’shanti has also served as the Manager of National Partnerships for United Way Worldwide, as a political appointee in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor and as the Director of Public Engagement for the 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee in Charlotte, NC.
In all her spare time, she is also the founder of The Brown Girls Guide to Politics, an award-winning podcast that was featured as one of the top political podcasts by Time Magazine, Teen Vogue, and Vanity Fair. She also sits on the Engagement Committee of Heart of a Nation, an organization that empowers the next generation of American, Israeli, and Palestinian change-makers to embrace better, together.
