Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change

The author Stacey Abrams holds a JD from Yale Law School and a master’s degree from the University of Texas. She was her college’s valedictorian, graduating magna cum laude from the lauded historically Black undergraduate program at Spelman College. She was one of two Rhodes Scholarship nominees from Mississippi. From her parents, she learned the values of church, family, and community service, and from her mentors, she learned the language and practice of effective leadership. Abrams became the only person of color at her law firm, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, who specialized in tax law for tax-exempt organizations. At age 28, she worked pro bono and chaired a commission for the former mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin, and she was then tapped to run a division of the city attorney’s office. She became the youngest deputy city attorney in Atlanta’s history at age 29. Working closely with former Mayor Franklin, Abrams learned much about the work of an administrator and politician.

Abrams was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where she served from 2007 to 2017. In 2011, she was elected as the first woman minority leader and the first Black minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives.