As a third-generation military veteran, Chrissy Houlahan comes from a tradition of service. She served as a Captain in the United States Air Force Reserve, including three years of active duty and thirteen years in the Inactive Reserve.
Her professional career spans the corporate, nonprofit, and education sectors. Houlahan served as COO of AND1 Basketball, helping grow the company from a startup into a major apparel and footwear brand. She later became the founding COO of B Lab, a nonprofit promoting ethical business practices and B Corporations. Houlahan also taught chemistry in North Philadelphia through Teach For America and served as President and COO/CFO of Springboard Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on improving early childhood literacy in underserved communities.
These experiences helped shape her commitment to public service and led her to run for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District in 2018, representing Chester and Berks Counties. She made history as the first woman elected to represent the district and the first Democrat to win the seat since the Civil War. In Congress, Houlahan has focused on expanding access to affordable healthcare, advancing common-sense gun safety measures, improving government accountability, and supporting a strong, stable economy that creates good jobs and benefits for working families.
She serves on the Committee on Armed Services and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She previously served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she led bipartisan legislation to address global malnutrition.
Houlahan has received the Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America Award and three Congressional Management Foundation Democracy Awards for Transparency and Accountability, Constituent Services, and Workplace Environment. She is the first member of Congress to win two categories in a single term.