Senator Kirsten Gillibrand grew up in Upstate New York in a family committed to public service. Her grandmother worked in the New York State Legislature at a time few women did and was a trailblazing grassroots organizer. As a child, Kirsten would join her grandmother to go door-to-door urging their neighbors to vote. Her father was a public defender and her mother was a lawyer who taught Kirsten about the importance of representing those without a powerful voice of their own. They inspired Kirsten’s passion for public service.

In just her first term in the Senate, Kirsten led the effort to repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that banned gay people from serving openly in the military and passed the historic 9/11 health bill, which ensured that first responders and 9/11 survivors got the health care they deserved. More recently, she passed major legislation to give benefits to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits overseas, passed the first-ever federal law making domestic gun trafficking a crime, and reformed the military justice system on behalf of service members.

Senator Gillibrand’s home is in Albany, New York, where she grew up. She and her husband Jonathan have two boys, Theo and Henry, and a labradoodle, Maple.