Angela Rye Named New CBC Executive Director, General Counsel

Angela Rye, the dynamic co-founder of IMPACT, an organization that seeks to encourage young professionals in the areas of economic empowerment, civic engagement, and political involvement, has been tapped by Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) to be the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 112th Congress.

Leading up to this appointment, Ms. Rye served as the Senior Advisor and Counsel to the House Committee on Homeland Security under the leadership of Committee Chairman Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), where she has been charged with developing the general political strategy for the Committee with a focus on assisting disenfranchised, small minority owned businesses.

Rye, who continues to serve as IMPACT’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, began her career in legislative advocacy upon graduating from Seattle University School of Law, as the Coordinator of Advocacy and Legislative Affairs at the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), the umbrella association for the nation’s 120 historically and predominately black colleges and universities on Capitol Hill and with the Executive Branch. Prior to her work at NAFEO, Ms. Rye served as a Legal Extern in Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ Los Angeles office.

Ms. Rye also served as the Western Region Director for the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) where she managed and supervised the Western Region Executive Board. Formerly the
Legislative Affairs Chair of the Greater Washington Area Chapter (GWAC) for the Women’s Law Division of the National Bar Association, Ms. Rye is committed to shoring up efforts to increase knowledge of the political processes for her colleagues and peers. Ms. Rye’s reputation for advocacy led to her recent appointment to the American Bar Association’s Government Affairs Hill Day Committee. She is also Vice Chair of the National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the immediate past chair of the Legislative Committee.

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Angela Rye learned the importance of advocacy through her family’s political and community activism. She was recently featured on BET.com as one of the “14 Hottest Blacks Working on Capitol Hill.”

About the Author

Kristal High

Kristal Lauren High co-founded and serves as Editor in Chief of Politic365, a multi-media publication focused exclusively on politics and public policy from a multicultural point of view. Prior to launching Politic365, Ms. High developed an expertise in broadband adoption among minority, low-income and underserved populations through her work with the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Media & Technology Institute. A former Advisory Board Member of Blogging While Brown, the premier blogging conference dedicated to education, collaboration, and innovation among bloggers of color, Ms. High co-founded and chaired Innovation Generation, a non-partisan coalition of entrepreneurs, political leaders, technologists, academics and members of the new media to mobilize leadership around the transformative power of broadband and its ability to change lives. Ms. High also founded the blog Pocketbook Protest to address the importance of minorities leveraging their economic power to achieve their desired political and social ends, and has been a guest speaker at Netroots Nation, Geek.Me and NewME. For her efforts online in advocacy and web publishing, Ms. High received the 2012 Digital Renaissance Award from the New York Urban League Young Professionals, the NAACP’s Leadership 500 Chairman’s Leadership Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Black Broadcasters Association. Ms. High obtained her Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Davidson College, where she was inducted into the leadership fraternity Omicron Delta Kappa. While at Davidson, she majored in Theatre with a concentration in African American Studies. Ms. High received her Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee School of Law, where she specialized in civil and international human rights, and media and entertainment law.