Marcia Fudge was the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Joe Biden and a former Democratic congresswoman from Ohio. President Joe Biden nominated her in December 2020 and the Senate Banking Committee voted to approve Fudge's nomination on Feb. 4, 2021.

Fudge was confirmed by the Senate on March 10, 2021 and was sworn into office that evening. Fudge was the first Black woman to hold this position since President Jimmy Carter appointed Patricia Roberts Harris in the 1970s.

Early Life and Education

Fudge was born on Oct. 29, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio. Her family moved to Shaker Heights when she was a young child. She gre💎w up in a strong faith-based household an🔴d attended the Baptist Church with her grandmother, mother, and other family members.

She grew up in a loving, modest family with strong community roots. Her mother, Marian Saffold, was a labor organizer. Fudge graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1971. She obtained her B.S. degree in 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:business administration from The Ohio State University in Columbus in 1975.

She later received her J.D. degree from Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1983 and worked for Ohio's Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.

Notable Accomplishments

Fudge was elected the first female Black mayor of Warrensville Heights, 🌳Ohio in 1999. She served two terms an🍎d adopted one of the first vacant and abandoned property ordinances in Ohio.

She also worked closely with officials to create and support a task force designed to protect vulnerable individuals against predatory lending. She led the charge to develop more residential housing, addressed the foreclosure crisis in Warrensville Heights, and secured property ma﷽intenance grants to help reviꦕtalize Warrensville Heights.

These 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:accomplishments aꦬnd experiences most likely helped to build some of the foundations for her future jobs in the U.S. Congress and he༺r position in President Biden's cabinet.

Working in Washington

A lifelong Democrat, Fudge was elected and served as a Representative for the 11th Congressional District of Ohio from 2008 to 2021. She worked for the late Stephanie Tubb Jones before this seat, serving on her staff while Tubb Jones served in Congress. Fudge came to work in Washington D.C. as a member of Jones' team and was nominated after Jones' sudden death in 2008.

Fudge was appointed and served on the Committee on House Administration, the House Committee on Agriculture, and the House Committee on Education and Labor while she was a congresswoman. Fudge was also chair of the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections and was chair of the Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations. She was the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus as a congresswoman.

Fudge was confirmed as Secretary of HUD on March 10, 2021. As the head of a roughly $73 billion department, her work in 2021 focused on handling a national 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:housing crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The office of HUD is notably a challenging office due in part to the complexities of the sprawling housing and rental markets in the United States.

Fudge put serious work into HUD's programs to increase safe and affordable rental housing, reduce homelessness, and fight housing discrimination.

Personal Life

Fudge is unmarried and she doesn't have children but she's been an active mentor in the lives of many young women. She split her time between the District of Columbia and her home outside of Cleveland, Ohio while she served as Secretary.

She's the former national president of Delta Sigma Theta, a prestigious sorority, and the largest public service sorority primarily for college-educated Black women who work together to improve the lives of Black community members and support women.

The Delta Sigma Theta network is strong and Fudge has said in interviews that it was instrumental in helping shape her career in politics by providing mentorship and guidance in her early years. Fudge in turn mentors and advocates for young women of color who are interested in law and politics.

She discussed the strong bonds of Delta Sigma Theta's sisters in a 2020 interview in Washington's Roll Call as well as their lifelong commitment to the organization and its mission, helping young women gain the proverbial foot in the door to opportunities to build their careers.

Fudge resigned from her position as Secretary of HUD on March 22, 2024. The Law Firm of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP announced in May 2024 that she would be joining the firm as a partner and Chair of Public Policy.

The Bottom Line

Fudge has worked on the community, local, and national levels of politics and she was at the helm of the office of HUD after the exit of former Secretary Carson. She's a former congresswoman (D-Ohio) from the 11th Congressional District of Ohio, serving from 2008 through 2021. She moved on from politics toward the end of President Biden's White House term.