Miami Connection
Mucarsel-Powell dedicated two decades to improving lives in underserved Miami-Dade communities through nonprofit work and academic leadership at FIU, where she helped establish and grow the Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP program to expand healthcare access. As the first woman to represent Florida's 26th congressional district, she championed gun safety measures, environmental sustainability, and climate action directly addressing South Florida's sea level rise concerns. Her advocacy for commonsense gun reform was driven by personal tragedy—her father's murder in Ecuador when she was 24.
About
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and immigrated to the United States at age 14 with her mother and sisters. She worked her way through high school at a doughnut shop and earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Pitzer College and a Master's degree in International Political Economy from Claremont Graduate University. Before entering Congress, she spent over 20 years in Miami-Dade working with nonprofits including the Hope Center, Zoo Miami Foundation, and Coral Restoration Foundation, and held various leadership positions at Florida International University's College of Medicine and College of Health. She was elected to Congress in 2018 on a platform of healthcare expansion, gun reform, immigration reform, and climate action.