DelBene, Suzan, 1962-

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Suzan Kay DelBene (née Oliver; born February 17, 1962) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the U.S. Representative from Washington's 1st congressional district since 2012.

Born in Selma, Alabama, she grew up in Bellevue and Mercer Island, Washington before her family moved all over the country in search of work. After graduating from The Choate School, a prep school in Wallingford, Connecticut, DelBene went to Reed College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biology. She then continued her education at the University of Washington, earning a Master's degree in business administration. From 1989 to 1998 DelBene worked at Microsoft, where she was director of marketing and business development for the Interactive Media Group, marketing and sales training for Microsoft's Internet properties, and other business development and product management roles with Windows 95 and early versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. In 1998 she left to help found drugstore.com and serve as a vice president. In 2000, she became CEO of Nimble Technology, leading it through its acquisition by Actuate in 2003. In 2004, she returned to Microsoft as corporate vice president of the Mobile Communications Business until 2007. From 2008 to 2009, she was a management consultant and strategic advisor to Global Partnerships, a nonprofit supporting microfinance and sustainable solutions in Latin America. After narrowly losing her 2010 bid for the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 8th congressional district, DelBene was named as the director for the Washington State Department of Revenue on November 30, 2010.

DelBene ran for Congress again in 2012. She won the Democratic nomination for the redrawn 1st district, previously represented by Jay Inslee, then went on to win the special and regular elections held in November 2012. DelBene serves as Chair of the forward-thinking New Democrat Coalition, which is one of the largest ideological coalitions in the House, and is co-chair of the Women's High Tech Caucus, Internet of Things Caucus, and Dairy Caucus. She is also a member of the Pro-Choice Caucus. DelBene is one of the lead sponsors of the American Family Act, which would cut childhood poverty nearly in half by increasing the Child Tax Credit to provide up to $3,000 per child per year and $3,600 for children younger than 6, make the credit refundable so that low-income families receive the full credit, and allow the payments to be provided monthly. In 2019, DelBene reintroduced the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act, legislation that would require companies to present their data privacy policies in clear language. In the 116th Congress, DelBene was a member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, "which is committed to find ways to improve and modernize the way Congress operates".

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Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Choate School (Wallingford, Conn.) corporateBody
employeeOf Microsoft Corporation. corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Reed College (Portland, Or.) corporateBody
memberOf United States. Congress. House person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf University of Washington. corporateBody
leaderOf Washington (State). Dept. of Revenue. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Selma AL US
Medina WA US
Wallingford CT US
Mercer Island WA US
Bellevue WA US
Portland OR US
Seattle WA US
Subject
Occupation
Business Executive
Businesswomen
Chief executive officers
Representatives, U.S. Congress
State Government Official
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Person

Birth 1962-02-17

Female

Americans

English

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