Alabama Senator Doug Jones has named, Dana Gresham, the first Democrat Black Chief of Staff in the Senate.
Dana Gresham is an Alabama native & former Asst. Secretary for Governmental Affairs at @USDOT
Sen.-elect Doug Jones (D-Ala.) has hired former transportation official and congressional aide Dana Gresham as his new chief of staff.
Jones will be the only Senate Democrat to have an African-American chief of staff once Gresham comes on board. Two Senate Republicans, Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Jerry Moran of Kansas, have black chiefs of staff.
Gresham previously served as assistant secretary for government affairs at the Department of Transportation, and before that was chief of staff to then-Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.). A graduate of Georgetown University, Gresham is an Alabama native: A tweet Tuesday by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) referred to him as “Birmingham’s own stand out.”
Jones has made hiring a diverse staff a priority since he staged an upset win over Republican Roy Moore in last month’s special Senate election in Alabama.
Jones’ office announced Gresham and a number of senior staff hires on Tuesday. Mark Libell, formerly an assistant congressional liaison for the Federal Reserve Board who also worked for Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and former Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), will be legislative director. Ann Berry, a former deputy chief of staff to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is transition advisor. Katie Campbell, another veteran congressional aide who served as an adviser to Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and as policy director for the Blue Dog Coalition, will be deputy legislative director.
Congratulations 😄
In reality and honestly, the Democratic has been run like a modern day plantation. POC have for decades been supporting and maintaining, without adequate representation or leadership positions.vv
It’s time to dump the bread crumbs and go for the whole LOAF. PBO showed the Dem Party how to do it, but they seem even more tone-deaf.
So every now and then we get a glimpse into the 21st century, despite the GOP trying to drag us back to 1930 or thereabouts.
Doug Jones is starting out right. Good for him.
Agreed, Liza. It’s a start. We need not just black faces & voices, but all qualified voices. While “Tokens can get you n the gate, you need to know where you going andthe skills on how to get there.
He looks smart and kind.
Yes he does!