Stacey Abrams

Abrams arrived in Georgia as a child, when her parents moved with their five children from Gulfport, Miss., looking for better educational opportunities. Abrams earned degrees from Spelman College, the University of Texas and Yale Law School. Abrams is the first female leader of either party in the Georgia General Assembly and the first African American leader in the state House. In 2014, she founded the New Georgia Project, which focuses on voter registration and engagement, with a goal of signing up 800,000 voters of color by 2024. Abrams, who was first elected to the state House in 2007 representing part of Atlanta and suburban DeKalb County, says her most important legislative achievement was getting additional money and support for grandparents or other family members who end up taking in children whose parents can’t care for them. She is intimately familiar with the challenge because her parents are caring for her niece; Abrams said her brother was drug-addicted and incarcerated. Spelman College, University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs (MPAff), Yale Law School (JD)