Karen Bass
Karen Bass is the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest city. She is first woman and second African American to be elected mayor of her native city.
Bass started off her career as a nurse and a physician assistant. She founded the Community Coalition to organize the predominantly Black and Latino residents of South L.A.
After being elected to represent Los Angeles in the California State Assembly, Bass was elected speaker, making her the first African American woman to ever lead a state legislative body in U.S. history. She and other legislative leaders were awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for preventing the state from bankruptcy while protecting vital services during the largest economic decline since the Great Depression.
While representing Los Angeles and Culver City in Congress, Mayor Bass helped protect small businesses during the pandemic, created local jobs from federal infrastructure funding, and led the passage of what the Los Angeles Times called “the most significant child welfare policy reform in decades.”
Mayor Bass graduated from California State University-Dominguez Hills and earned a master’s degree from the University of Southern California. She has four children and two grandchildren.