GA-07: Carolyn Bourdeaux (D)
PROFILE
About Bourdeaux :
Carolyn Bourdeaux grew up in Roanoke, Va., the daughter of public school teachers. Her father, a professor, decided to quit his job and start a business selling paper animal hats! The business went under during the recession of the 1990s, and the family went bankrupt but they persevered through the hardship thanks to family, friends, neighbors and community rallying around.
She was able to pursue a college degree through public grants and federal loans. Bourdeaux earned a bachelor’s from Yale, a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California, and a Ph.D. in public administration with a focus on public finance from Syracuse University.
Bourdeaux started her career as an aide to Sen. Ron Wyden, working on health care, education, women’s issues, social issues and transportation.
She worked on an innovative program to better connect transportation with land use planning and design. This was a precursor to the Livable Communities Project that has revitalized many downtown communities. She also worked on legislation that helped expand access to the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program and access to Federally Qualified Health Centers.
She has been a professor at the Andrew Young School of Public Policy since 2003. From 2007 to 2010, she took a leave of absence to be director of Georgia’s Senate Budget and Evaluation Office.
She was honored for significant service to the state of Georgia with Senate Resolution 1598. She returned to the Andrew Young School and founded the Center for State and Local Finance.