Abby Finkenauer

U.S. Special Envoy Abby Finkenauer grew up in a working class family in rural Iowa and was a first generation college graduate. At the age of 24 she successfully ran for the Iowa House of Representatives and served her community and her state in the Iowa House from 2015-2019. She was the Ranking Member of Government Oversight while also serving on Economic Development, Ways & Means, Transportation, and Labor. She led the fight against attacks on collective bargaining and workers rights and was an advocate for legislation addressing equal pay, public education, infrastructure funding, voting rights and women’s reproductive health access.

At the age of 28, Abby successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2018 she became the youngest woman in history to flip a Congressional seat as well as one of the first of two congresswomen from the state of Iowa. In 2019, within her first two weeks as a Congresswoman she became the youngest woman in history to pass a bill through the U.S. House of Representatives. She served as Democratic Caucus Assistant Whip, Vice Chair of Highways and Transit on the Transportation Committee, and was the youngest woman to chair a subcommittee with her role as Chairwoman of Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship Subcommittee as part of the Small Business Committee. Abby also founded the Endometriosis Congressional Caucus, and doubled the NIH research funding for the disease, which affects 1 in 9 women worldwide.

In November 2022, Abby was appointed as the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues and is focusing her energy on lifting up the voices and stories of young people across the globe and fostering relationship for the United States that will span generations advancing and protecting democracy.