Congresswoman Karen Bass is a proud daughter of Los Angeles. She was raised with three brothers in the Venice/Fairfax area of Los Angeles. In 1990, in response to the crack-cocaine and gang violence crisis that was gripping Los Angeles, Karen founded the Community Coalition.
She is a leading figure on foster care, founding the Los Angeles-based National Foster Youth Institute, which advocates for the more than 400,000 foster youth in America.Karen has represented Los Angeles in both Sacramento and Washington, DC for more than 14 years. A graduate of Hamilton High School, Cal State Dominguez Hills and the University of Southern California, she worked as a nurse, Physician Assistant, and clinical instructor at USC.