STACEY ABRAMS

Yale-educated tax lawyer, long-time Georgia politician, novelist, and voting rights activist, Stacey is also the daughter of a research librarian. She credits her upbringing with teaching her how to dive in and think strategically about how to learn new things.

In 1991, as valedictorian of her high school class, she and her parents were invited to meet the Governor of Georgia. They didn’t have a car and arrived on a city bus. As they walked up the long driveway to the Governor’s mansion, the guard at the gate, watching the bus pull away, said “You don’t belong here; this is a private event.”

Stacey recalls wanting to run away, but her mother had a “death grip” on her arm. Her father replied to the guard, “No, this is my daughter Stacey, and we have an invitation.” Her parents were not going to let her be denied this honor that she had achieved.  That day she learned to never back down when challenged and that it is her responsibility to not let anyone else tell her who she is or where she belongs.

In 2006 she won a seat as a Democrat in the Georgia Assembly, becoming the first female minority leader of the party.
In 2018 she ran for governor of Georgia and lost by less than two percentage points to a man who, in his role as secretary of the state of Georgia, purged 1.5 million voters from the rolls.

Stacey has been called smart, gutsy, and cool under pressure.
In 2018, she founded “Fair Fight,” an organization designed to fight voter suppression. Her efforts are credited with boosting voter turnout, especially in the 2020 presidential election, helping Joe Biden’s win and giving Democrats control of the Senate.