Donna Brazile

Donna Brazile is the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee and fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Ms. Brazile has been a contributor to ABC News and CNN, and has worked on every presidential campaign since 1976. In 2000 she became the first African American to serve as campaign manager for former Vice President Al Gore. 

Ms. Brazile has worked passionately in the rebuilding and recovery efforts in her beloved hometown of New Orleans. Additionally, she loves working with young people, encouraging them to vote, to run for office, and to work within the system to strengthen it. Since 2000, Ms. Brazile has lectured at over 200 colleges and universities across the country on such topics as “Inspiring Civility in American Politics,” “Race Relations in the Age of Obama,” “Why Diversity Matters,” and “Women in American Politics.” 

She first got involved in politics at the age of nine when she worked to elect a City Council candidate who had promised to build a playground in her neighborhood; the candidate won, the swing set was installed, and a lifelong passion for political progress was ignited. That led eventually to Ms. Brazile’s work on every presidential campaign from 1976 through 2000, when she became the first African-American to manage a presidential campaign. 

In addition to her work an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, Ms. Brazile is the best-selling author of Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House, as well as the best-selling memoir Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics. She is especially pleased to have made three cameo appearances on CBS’s The Good Wife, and two cameo appearances on Netflix’s series House of Cards. She most recently appeared on BET's Being Mary Jane. Ask her and she’ll tell you that acting, after all, is the key to success in politics. 

In 2013, Ms. Brazile was appointed by President Obama to serve on to the board of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. She is also proud the recipient of more than 10 honorary doctorate degrees from major colleges and universities, including her alma mater Louisiana State University. 

In August 2009, O, The Oprah Magazine chose Ms. Brazile as one of its 20 “remarkable visionaries” for the magazine’s first-ever O Power List. In addition, she was named among the 100 Most Powerful Women by Washingtonian magazine, Top 50 Women in America by Essence magazine, and received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s highest award for political achievement. In 2016, Ms. Brazile was awarded Wonk of the Year from the Kennedy Political Union at American University. 

Ms. Brazile is the founder and director of Brazile & Associates LLC, a general consulting, grassroots advocacy, and training firm based in Washington, DC. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University. 

Last but never least, she is a proud native of New Orleans, Louisiana. In the aftermath of the two catastrophic hurricanes that made landfall in the Gulf region, Ms. Brazile was appointed by former Governor Kathleen Blanco to serve on the Louisiana Recovery Board to work for the rebuilding of the state and to advocate for the Gulf recovery on the national stage. Ms. Brazile was also appointed by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to serve on the Tricentennial Commission. 

Donna Brazile has spent a lifetime working for progressive change, responsible governance, and the advancement of all people in a society that is fair and equitable.