Elissa Silverman

"Elissa Silverman has worked throughout her career to make the District\u2019\ s government accountable, responsive, and accessible. After nearly two decades as\ \ a reporter, budget analyst, and community activist, she is excited to put her\ \ experience to work as an at-large member of the D.C. Council.\nElissa began her\ \ professional life as a reporter at the Washington City Paper\_near the end of\ \ Marion Barry\u2019s fourth term as mayor and the beginning of Anthony A. Williams\u2019\ \ first. For three years she authored the paper\u2019s \u201CLoose Lips\u201D column\ \ on D.C. politics. She later worked for The Washington Post, covering local business,\ \ the 2006 mayoral race, and police, fire, and emergency medical services as a reporter\ \ on the night shift.\nFrom 2009 to 2014, Elissa worked for the D.C. Fiscal Policy\ \ Institute, analyzing the city\u2019s budget, leading advocacy campaigns, and heading\ \ a coalition that opened D.C. Council budget negotiations to the public. She also\ \ helped coordinate the campaigns that led to an increase in the D.C. minimum wage\ \ and an expansion of paid sick days to restaurant workers. In 2012, she helped\ \ lead the efforts of the D.C. Public Trust, the grassroots effort to ban direct\ \ corporate contributions and reform the city\u2019s campaign finance system.\n\ Elissa was honored in November 2012 with a Heschel Vision Award from the organization\ \ Jews United for Justice. Named after Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, an influential\ \ theologian and leader in civil rights and social justice, this award recognizes\ \ individuals for their activism and moral intent. Honored along with Elissa was\ \ former Maryland Gov. Martin O\u2019Malley.\nElissa grew up in Baltimore, Md.,\ \ and is a proud graduate of the city\u2019s public schools. She earned a bachelor\u2019\ s degree in economics and history from Brown University, where her studies sparked\ \ a lifelong interest in urban policy and shaped her thinking on critical issues\ \ such as race, poverty, and economic justice.\nHer work on these issues \u2014\ \ and her frustration that a series of corruption scandals had consumed District\ \ government \u2014 compelled Elissa to run for the at-large council seat in the\ \ April 2013 special election She applied her reform efforts to her own campaign\ \ by not accepting corporate contributions and by championing key issues including\ \ paid sick days and a living wage. She finished a close second.\nThe following\ \ year Elissa decided once again to seek an at-large council seat, this time in\ \ the November 2014 general election as an independent candidate. Elissa won through\ \ the hard work of many volunteers and a broad coalition of support including police,\ \ firefighters, nurses, teachers, and labor unions; environmental advocacy and women\u2019\ s rights organizations; and progressive organizations working for equity and social\ \ justice in D.C. Once again, her people-powered campaign accepted no corporate\ \ contributions and took no PAC money.\nElissa is a Ward 6 resident and owns a home\ \ in Capitol Hill near H Street NE. She is a longtime cyclist, a recreational tennis\ \ player, and a sometimes cook. She thanks her parents, Jack and Ruth, and her brother,\ \ Jonathan (a Ward 3 resident), for their love and support."