Maya Rockeymoore

Maya Rockeymooreserved as the vice president for research and programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, as chief of staff to Congressman Charles Rangel (Democrat, NY-15) and as a staffer on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. She is married to Elijah Cummings.

Background

Rockeymoore was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, but moved often as the daughter of an Air Force officer. She attended Prairie View A&M University where she majored in political science. Rockeymoore earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University. During her graduate studies, she worked as assistant to the director of Marion County Health Department in Indianapolis and taught women's studies and political science courses.

Career

Maya Rockeymoore served as a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation fellow, working in the office of Congressman Mel Watt (Democrat, NC-12). From this position, she went on to work on the House Ways and Means Committee and as chief of staff to Representative Charles Rangel. In that capacity, Rockeymoore helped facilitate passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act—the first-ever multi-lateral trade policy between the U.S. and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

After completing her dissertation, "The African American Political Response to HIV/AIDS: A Study of the Congressional Black Caucus in the 105th Congress,"[3] in 2000, she went to work as a senior resident scholar at the National Urban League's policy think tank, and served as vice president for research and programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) from 2003 to 2005. There she led the creation of the Foundation’s think tank—The Center for Policy Analysis and Research (CPAR). She has contributed to numerous publications.

Since 2005, Rockeymoore has served on the Board of Directors for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. In June 2012, she was elected to a three-year term as board chair.

Take Back America Conference

Maya Rockeymoore spoke at the 2008 Take Back America Conference. The conference was hosted by Campaign for America's Future and held from March 17 - 19 in Washington D.C.

Take Back the American Dream Conference 2011

Maya Rockeymoore was one of the 158 speakers who addressed the Take Back the American Dream Conference 2011 . The Conference was hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies, and Democratic Socialists of America dominated Campaign for America's Future,

Commission to Modernize Social Security

In 2013 Maya Rockeymoore and Meizhu Lui, co-chairs of the Commission to Modernize Social Security, wrote an op-ed titled “Social Security as a Civil Right” for the National Journal‘s “The Next America,” a feature on how demography shapes the national agenda. The op-ed discusses the persistence of income and wealth inequality in America.

References

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