America is the only democracy on earth that denies the residents of its capital city the right to vote. It's a national disgrace, and part of the legacy of racism. But fixing this will take more than indignance and outrage. It will require a strategic approach to a "grand bargain" on Capitol Hill. Working to find that bargain will be one of my top priorities in Congress. Throughout my career I’ve built coalitions across sectors and across the aisle — and I’ll use those experiences to help bring full representation to DC.

It breaks my heart when young people in DC say they don’t feel safe because they are worried about gun violence. And it infuriates me that the national gun lobby used DC not only to weaken our gun laws, but to weaken gun laws across the country.  Then they turn around and point to DC as an example of why we shouldn’t have gun reform.     

I was a prosecutor in the mid-90s and saw first-hand how gun violence ravages not just victims and communities, but also the families of the perpetrators. A few years later I was Counsel to Janet Reno, who presided over the largest drop in crime in recorded US history. She believed in being tough where it mattered, but also in prevention, community engagement, and rehabilitation.

As DC's Delegate, I will work with federal, regional and local law enforcement, nonprofit partners, schools, hospitals, and other stakeholders to ensure robust funding for the best practices to reduce gun violence.

As the daughter of a high school English teacher, I grew up knowing that education is everything. I brought that passion with me to DC, serving as president of  College Summit (now Peer Forward), which helps students from low-income backgrounds not just get to college, but succeed there.

According to the Hudson Institute, learning in DC has improved more rapidly in the last 15 years than in most other urban districts. But we still face deep inequities. Every student deserves the chance to shine. That means we must reduce truancy, support teachers, engage families, and help every student reap the rewards —and the joy — of education.

The lack of affordable housing in DC is a crisis that affects every other part of life, from health to education to public safety.  No one sector can solve this, but working across our community through public, private, and nonprofit partnerships, we can make DC a place where every resident has a stable and affordable home.

As a business executive at Microsoft, where I worked on private-public partnerships, I will bring a business-sensible approach and federal support to getting housing done right.

I am devastated by this Administration's assault on our federal agencies and institutions and by the ripple effect those cuts will have on our jobs and economy in the coming years. I worked on the top floor of Main Justice, and I know Janet Reno would turn over in her grave to see these attacks on career civil servants and rule-of-law institutions. 

DC must plan now in order to recover. As Mayor Bowser has said, we must diversify our employer base — attracting technology companies, healthcare innovators, creative industries, and others. I will bring my nonprofit and business experience to help DC pilot a smart path to a strong and resilient future.

AI is about to change every job in the economy, from driving a truck to practicing medicine. Today’s elected officials need to know how to support innovation and competition and also demand that technology work for people, not the other way around. This is the test of 21st century leadership. Having served as the General Manager for Responsible Growth at Microsoft, and also as a leader on a team at Harvard devoted to renovating “democracy with technology” and “technology with democracy,” I know how to bring that balance to bear in the brave new world of AI.