With a father who is a Holocaust survivor, Chrissy Houlahan grew up understanding that the promise of freedom and justice is the essence of American Democracy. However, in the last few years, she has become concerned that the progress of equality and justice has been forestalled, most recently with the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Deciding that she needed to do something to restore that promise of democracy, which is so often taken for granted, Chrissy realized that to effect real change, she needed to run for the United States Congress.
After coming to America, Chrissy’s father became a career Navy pilot, so her childhood was spent living in various states on the coasts of the United States. She continued living on the US coast while earning an undergraduate degree at Stanford University and a Master’s in Technology and Public Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From there, she, too, entered the military, spending sixteen years as an active duty Air force engineer.
Chrissy has a list of significant issues that she believes must be resolved if America is to retain its hard-won democracy. First, she wants everyone to have access to healthcare and to jobs that provide living wages. To that end, she says, America must commit to providing S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) Education to prepare our children for the economy of today and tomorrow. Two other items on that issues list include campaign reform and an end to Gerrymandering.
Chrissy also has strong advice for Democrats who are sincere about retaining our democracy. She urges us to communicate with Republicans and Independents by sharing our common values and by understanding the need to compromise. Finally, the most important thing we need to do, she asserts, “ is to stay focused and stay energized; we can’t afford to rest on our laurels.”
