Meet State Representative Dora Drake

Dora Drake is a member of the community who was born and raised in the Graceland neighborhood. She was accepted into the Educational Opportunities Program at Marquette University and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Social Welfare and Justice in 2015. Shortly after, Dora worked as a Pretrial Case Manager at JusticePoint for two years and served people by finding resources such as housing and employment. She, with the help of colleagues and YWCA of Southeast WI, also implemented a racial-bias training for JusticePoint’s employees statewide. Dora also facilitated trauma-informed response training sessions for criminal justice professionals.

Dora became more involved in politics and landed as the campaign manager for Shyla Deacon’s campaign for MPS School Board in District 1. Even though the campaign lost in the 2019 Spring election by small a margin, Dora gained a deeper insight about the challenges teachers, children, and families face surrounding education. She also went through the Emerge training program and is an alum of the 2020 cohort.

Following the election, Dora worked as a Member Service Coordinator at the Center for Self Sufficiency where she provides re-entry services to justice-impacted individuals such as workforce preparation, assistance in finding housing, and trauma-informed workshops. But in the midst of the pandemic, Dora wanted to have a larger impact on those she’s served in her community.

She ran for office and was elected for the 11th State Assembly seat in November 2020. She continues to build bridges and work with others to get the job done. That is why in her first term, Rep. Dora Drake has approximately 20 bills signed into law ranging from housing, protections for children and sexual assault victims, and support for small business owners. Click here to learn about her accomplishments.