Public service is a way for ambitious, innovative people to make a difference in society while also having an incredibly interesting, satisfying career. Ann will describe her strategies in a career that started in a law school class with 3% women to being appointed by the President and unanimously confirmed by the Senate to a position on the Federal Election Commission.

Ann M. Ravel is Vice Chair of the Federal Election Commission for 2014. Ms. Ravel was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President Barack Obama on June 21, 2013.  After her appointment received the unanimous consent of the United States Senate, Ms. Ravel joined the Commission on October 25, 2013. From March 2011 until her appointment to the Commission, Ms. Ravel served as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to which Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed her. At the FPPC, Ms. Ravel oversaw the regulation of campaign finance, lobbyist registration and reporting, and ethics and conflicts of interest related to officeholders and public employees. During her tenure at the FPPC, Ms. Ravel was instrumental in the creation of the States’ Unified Network (SUN) Center, a web-based center for sharing information on campaign finance.

Before joining the FPPC, Ms. Ravel served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Torts and Consumer Litigation in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. Ms. Ravel also worked as an attorney in the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office, ultimately serving as the appointed County Counsel from 1998 until 2009. Ms. Ravel represented the County and its elected officials, provided advice on the state Political Reform Act, and initiated groundbreaking programs in elder abuse litigation, educational rights, and consumer litigation on behalf of the Santa Clara County government and the community. Ms. Ravel has served as an elected Governor on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, a member of the Judicial Council of the State of California, and Chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation.  In 2007, the State Bar of California named Ms. Ravel Public Attorney of the Year for her contributions to public service. Ms. Ravel received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.