Stacey Abrams speaks at TEDWomen 2018: Showing Up, November 28-30, 2018, Palm Springs, California. Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED
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Stacey Abrams speaks at TEDWomen 2018: Showing Up, November 28-30, 2018, Palm Springs, California. Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED / Marla Aufmuth / TED

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode School of Life

Stacey Abrams' journey in politics has taught her a lot about life. Her greatest lessons, she says, have come from the setbacks she has experienced along the way.

About Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams is a politician, lawyer and author. She is the founder of Fair Fight Action, which works to protect the right to vote, and the founder of Fair Count, which works to protect the census.

In 2018, Abrams was the first Black woman in the U.S. to be a major party's nominee for governor. Abrams also serves as the founder and executive director of the southern Economic Advancement Project, which works to build economic power in the south. She is the first woman to lead either party in the Georgia General Assembly and the first African-American to lead in the state's House of Representatives. She is the founder of the New Georgia Project, a nonpartisan effort to register and civically engage Georgians, and co-founder of NOW Account, a financial services firm that helps small businesses grow.

Under the pen name "Selena Montgomery," Abrams also authored eight award-winning romantic suspense novels. She's received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and Yale Law School.

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