Background

• Cassandra is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Prior to joining American Progress, she was a senior advisor to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO) and served as the policy director on his 2004 presidential campaign.

• Ms. Butts coordinated the formulation of policy on Rep. Gephardt's presidential campaign that included a universal health care plan. In her seven years of work for Rep. Gephardt during his tenure as the House Democratic Leader, Butts was a principal advisor on matters involving the judiciary, financial services, and information technology.

• Ms. Butts provided counsel and strategic advice to the Democratic Leader on a range of major proposals that came before the U.S. Congress including the 1998 presidential impeachment and legislation related to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which included drafting the groundbreaking September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.

• Cassandra Butts most recently served as a senior advisor to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in 2004-2005. (Source: CAP)

Professional Positions

• Prior to Cassandra service at the Center, Butts was an Assistant Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, where she worked on civil rights policy and litigated voting rights and school desegregation cases.

• Cassandra also served as Legislative Counsel to Sen. Harris L. Wofford (D-PA).

• Butts also served as an international election observer to the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections in 2000. (Source: CAP)

Accomplishments

Articles by Cassandra Q. Butts

The ID Divide, May 6, 2008,

Butts Testimony: Fulfilling America's Promises, September 6, 2007.

A Vote for the Dysfunctional Status Quo, June 28, 2007.

Immigration Reform A Necessary First Step, May 22, 2007.

Leveraging Diversity in the New Congress, January 16, 2007.

Criticism

Additional Information

Biography Links

• Cassandra Q. Butts