Women's Forum Oral History Collection Interview Index

Deborah Ross was born June 20, 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up outside of Hartford, Connecticut. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a social worker, stay-at-home mom, and a preschool teacher. She has a degree in international studies from Brown University. Ross became involved in the ERA movement while at Brown through a committee that would write letters and petition in support of the amendment. Her first job after graduation was for an environmental group in Washington, DC. After working a few other jobs in DC, Ross moved to North Carolina to attend law school at UNC. In law school, she worked for the dean and was a teaching assistant. Her first job after law school was with Hunton and Williams (now Hunton Andrews Kurth), an international law firm. Her next position was as the state director for the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2002, she was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly. Ross helped pass legislation on same-day voter registration and early voting during her time in the legislature. At the time, she also worked at Duke Law School. She left the General Assembly in 2013 to work as the legal council for GoTriangle, which provides public transport in the Triangle area. In 2016, she unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate. In 2020, Ross was elected to the United States House of Representatives.