Sydney Kamlager-Dove

Sydney Kamlager-Dove was born in Chicago, Illinois.^[1] Her mother is actress Cheryl Lynn Bruce and her stepfather is artist Kerry James Marshall.^[2][3] She attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science.^[4] She is a member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.^[5] She received her Master of Arts in arts management from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University.^[5]

In 1996, Kamlager-Dove was the spokesperson for the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) in Venice, California.^[6] A year later, she was the organization's public art director during the restoration of the Venice graffiti pit.^[7][8] After leaving SPARC, Kamlager-Dove worked as an assistant to actor Delroy Lindo.^[9] She later worked as a public affairs director for the nonprofit child care corporation Crystal Stairs, headed at the time by Holly Mitchell.^[10]

In 2010, Kamlager-Dove worked on the campaign to elect Mitchell to the California State Assembly, becoming district director after Mitchell's victory.^[11][12] In 2015, she ran for Seat 3 of the board of trustees for the Los Angeles Community College District.^[13] On March 3, 2015, she defeated three other candidates with a 42% plurality.^[14] Kamlager-Dove has sat on the board of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles.^[15]

After Sebastian Ridley-Thomas announced his resignation from the State Assembly on December 27, 2017, Kamlager entered the race to serve the remainder of his term. She won the April 3, 2018, special election to represent California's 54th State Assembly district.^[16]

Kamlager was an advocate for racial equity, access, and social justice in the California State Assembly. She was vocal about restoring voting rights to parolees, strengthening standards for police use of force, and stopping the NCAA from preventing student athletes from receiving payment in connection with the use of their name, image, or likeness.^{[17][18][19][20]} In 2019, she co-authored SB 188, the CROWN Act, which prohibits employers from enforcing policies surrounding "race-neutral" grooming or discriminating against people wearing natural or protective hairstyles.^[21]

During her tenure in the Assembly, Kamlager-Dove sat on the following standing committees: Public Safety, Arts and Entertainment, Communications and Conveyance, Insurance, and the powerful Rules committee.^[22] She chaired the Select Committee on Incarcerated Women and led the legislature's Los Angeles County Delegation.^[23] In 2020, Kamlager-Dove was appointed by the Speaker of the California State Assembly to serve on the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code.

On November 10, 2020, Kamlager-Dove announced her candidacy for the California State Senate to succeed Holly Mitchell, who was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.^[27] On March 2, 2021, Kamlager-Dove was elected with 67.67% of the vote.^[28][29]

• List of African-American United States representatives
• Women in the United States House of Representatives