Kyrsten Sinema was elected to serve as District 15’s State Senator in November, 2010 and represents most of central Phoenix. Prior to this she served in the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010, and was the Assistant Leader to the House Democratic Caucus from 2009-2010. She sits on the Senate Appropriations, Rules, Judiciary and Government Reform Committees.

Kyrsten holds both a law degree and a master’s degree in Social Work from Arizona State University, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the School of Justice and Social Inquiry at ASU. She is an adjunct professor in the School of Social Work at ASU and practices law when not in session. Kyrsten also serves as faculty for the Center for Progressive Leadership, teaching tomorrow’s community leaders about the political process.

Kyrsten has worked on initiatives in Arizona and around the country for a number of years, and in 2006 chaired Arizona Together, the first and only successful effort in the country to defeat a same-sex marriage ban ballot initiative. In 2008, she chaired Protect Arizona’s Freedom, the coalition that defeated Ward Connerly’s effort to place an initiative on the state ballot to eliminate equal opportunity programs. She continues to consult with political groups around the nation on electoral and legislative strategy.

Representative Sinema was chosen last year as one of 32 state lawmakers nationwide, and the only legislator from Arizona, for the White House Health Reform Task Force. As a member of the Task Force, Sinema has worked with Arizonans to help shape national health reform so that middle-class families can have access to quality and affordable health care. The historic passage of health reform in Congress was signed into law on Tuesday, March 23rd 2010.

Kyrsten serves on numerous community and national boards, including People for the American Way, Progressive States Network, the YWCA of Maricopa County, Center for Progressive Leadership, and the Young Elected Officials’ Network. In March 2011 she was appointed by Mayor Phil Gordon as the new chair of the Phoenix Women’s Commission. Kyrsten is the recipient of awards for her political leadership, including the NAACP Civil Rights Award, AZ Hispanic Community Forum Friend of the Year, Planned Parenthood Legislative CHOICE Award, Sierra Club’s Most Valuable Player, Phoenix Pride’s 2011 Mayor Phil Gordon Community Spirit Award, and the AZ Public Health Association Legislator of the Year.

Kyrsten is a 2009 Aspen-Rodel Fellow in Leadership. In May 2010, she completed the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Women in Power: Leadership in a New World program and in 2008 was chosen to participate in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program. In 2006, she was a Center for Policy Alernative Flemming Fellow, and in 2005 was selected as an American Council of Young Political Leaders delegate to Morocco.

Kyrsten is a strong voice for the community at the national level, appearing on CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, and she speaks regularly at national conferences on a variety of issues including health care, immigration, equal rights, ballot initiatives, messaging strategy, coalition building. In October 2010 Sinema was named one of Time Magazine’s “40 under 40″ as one of the “rising stars of American politics”.

Kyrsten’s first book, Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions that Win and Last, was released in July 2009 by Berrett-Koehler Publishers.