Ann Ravel is chair of the Federal Election Commission which oversees the financing of federal elections. Nominated by President Obama in 2013, Ravel has been an outspoken critic of the agency’s inability to monitor and limit the size of campaign contributions. Ravel has a long history in election oversight, appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011 to chair the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
Ravel has worked at the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office. In 2007, The State Bar of California named her “Public Attorney of the “Year’’ and in 2014 California Lawyers Magazine named her “California Attorney of the Year.’’ Ravel received her B.A. from UC Berkeley, and her J.D. from Hastings Law School.