Occupation Political commentator | Employer CNN | |
Born October 26, 1979 (age 37) ( 1979-10-26 ) Alma mater University of Washington (B.A.)
Seattle University (J.D.) | ||
Angela Rye (born October 26, 1979) is an American attorney and the Principal and CEO of IMPACT Strategies, a political advocacy firm in Washington, DC. She is a political commentator on CNN and an NPR political analyst.
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She served as the executive director and general counsel to the Congressional Black Caucus for the 112th Congress.
She currently is running the boards of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee, Seattle University School of Law Alumni, and Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network. She serves as a senior advisor to the Government Technology and Services Coalition and is a member of the Links, Incorporated .
Education
Rye is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Seattle University School of Law.
Career
Upon moving to the Nation's Capital, Rye co-founded IMPACT, an organization that seeks to encourage young professionals in three core areas: economic empowerment, civic engagement, and political involvement. The organization has quickly become a powerful voice and advocate for today's young professionals of color nationwide. Under her leadership, IMPACT formed critical partnerships with the National Bar Association, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, National Urban League, Rainbow/PUSH, Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute, Black Leadership Forum, and many others.
Rye started off her career in legislative advocacy at the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, an umbrella association for America's 120 historically black colleges and universities. Here, she served as the Coordinator of Advocacy and Legislative Affairs. Prior to this, she worked in district office of Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and she served as the Western Region Director of the National Black Law Students Association.
In 2013, Rye founded IMPACT Strategies, a political advocacy firm.
She also served as the Senior Advisor and Counsel to the House Committee on Homeland security, where she developed the general political strategy, focusing on modernizing government contracting practices and opening doors of opportunity for small businesses. She then served as the Executive Director and General Counsel to the Congressional Black Caucus for the 112th Congress. During her time as director, she was "tasked with developing the overall legislative and political strategy for the Caucus".
Rye is currently a political commentator on CNN and is frequently featured as an on-air personality on several media outlets, including CNN, HuffPost Live, TV One and BET. She is known for her humor, wit, candidness and ability to create dialogue that ranges from political campaigns to complex legislation to social issues.
In a article written by Angela Rye and posted on December 17, 2016 to CNN, Angela stated that a X-ray backscatter machine was used at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, "I went confidently from the metal detector to the backscatter X-ray machine.... The backscatter machine alerted to my right Uggs boot, three areas near my vagina and I think somewhere on my back". According to ProPublica, the Detroit Metropolitan Airport uses "millimeter wave" body scanners and not X-ray backscatter. Moreover, it has been reported that the Transportation Security Agency has phased out X-ray backscatter machines in 2013.
Personal life
Born on October 26, 1979 and raised in Seattle Washington, Rye learned of the importance of advocacy through her family's political and community activism. Her father, Eddie Rye Jr., is a community organizer and a small business consultant and her mother is Andrea Rye, a retired college administrator.