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Erika Geiss has a proven track record of fighting for Michigan families.

Senator Geiss previously served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives, during which she served on the House Standing Committees of Commerce and Trade, Health Policy, Michigan Competitiveness (Democratic Vice Chair), Workforce and Talent Development and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.

Before joining the legislature, was an adjunct faculty member in the humanities at Wayne County Community College District, as well as an instructor at the Art Institute of Michigan-Troy and the University of New Hampshire, Durham. Geiss was also director of education at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and the curatorial liaison for the core, permanent exhibition, “And Still We Rise: Our Journey through African American History,” at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History. Geiss is also a small business owner and has an extensive publication history as an author and editor of non-fiction books and articles.

She also has been an active local community member, serving on the Master Plan Steering Committee for the city of Taylor and on the Taylor Cultural Arts Commission, of which she was chairwoman for two years. She is currently a member of the Wayne County Council for the Arts, History and Humanities, and vice president of the PTO at her youngest child’s elementary school. Senator Geiss also serves on the Taylor Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force, the Beaumont Teen Health Center — Taylor Advisory Board, the Taylor Career Technical Education Center Advisory Board and is an Advisor to the Board at Vista Maria.

Geiss earned her bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from Brandeis University and her master’s degree in art and architectural history from Tufts University. The granddaughter of Panamanian immigrants, Senator Geiss has spent most of her adult life in Michigan after moving to the state from the East Coast 17 years ago.

She and her husband, Doug, live in Taylor and have two children.