Caren B. Street

Caren most recently served as Chief of Staff to Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), where she was chief strategist for the member’s legislative priorities, including bills related to policing reform, re-entry services, local hiring initiatives and State Department diversification.

Caren also served as Executive Director for the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) under the leadership of Rep. Bass in the 116th Congress. During her tenure, she organized a National Black Leadership Summit, advised the caucus through the onset of a global pandemic that disproportionately impacted the Black community, and uplifted an historic international civil rights movement where she played a key role in the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

During the 115th Congress, Caren served as Policy Director for then-CBC Chair Cedric Richmond. In that role, she shaped the CBC’s legislative agenda with a renewed focus on economic issues, such as infrastructure development, Opportunity Zones, federal budget priorities and immigration reform. She authored “We Have a Lot to Lose: Solutions to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century,” and drafted the Jobs and Justice Act of 2018.

Prior to her service in the House of Representatives, Caren spent nearly nine years advising former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on legislative and policy matters, including business, economic development, federal grants and labor issues, such as Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act implementation, small business Affordable Care Act compliance, negotiating multiple extensions of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program, and the passage of hundreds of bills by unanimous consent. She also served on the staff of former Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

Caren obtained a B.A. from Howard University and a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law.