In the heart of Chapel Hill, Valerie Foushee’s early years were marked by transitions and resilience. Her parents, Annie and Melvin Paige, were teenagers when she was born and were forced to drop out of high school to raise her and her five younger siblings. Growing up, she watched her parents work two and three jobs to make ends meet, but they always instilled in their children the importance of hard work, education, and community – values that still shape Valerie today.
Valerie began her education at Northside Elementary School, but her family soon moved to the Pine Knolls neighborhood, where she attended Frank Porter Graham Elementary School, the only option available for Black children at that time. It was not until the sixth grade, more than a decade after Brown vs. Board of Education, that Valerie experienced an integrated education at Lincoln Middle School.
Valerie’s leadership and public service potential shone early on. At Culbreth Junior High School, she was elected as the Ninth Grade Class President and later as the Senior Class President at Chapel Hill High School. Additionally, she began volunteering at Head Start where she volunteered for multiple summers starting at the age of 11. Her passion for leadership and service was nurtured at First Baptist Church, where she honed the skills crucial for a future in politics. She recalls, “You have to have a message, just like in politics. You have to be able to identify a base for any position that you get in the church”. It was also there that she learned parliamentary procedure and public speaking.
Valerie’s dream of attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill came true after high school. The campus provided her a new perspective on her hometown. However, after two years, she was forced to withdraw because she could not afford to continue. Valerie went on to marry her high school sweetheart, Stanely Foushee, and had two sons, Stanley II and Terrence.
In 1987, after the birth of her second son, Valerie joined the Chapel Hill Police Department as an administrative officer. Despite working twelve-hour shifts, she remained deeply involved in her children’s education and would volunteer in their classrooms. While volunteering, she observed firsthand the persistent inequalities in the school system and decided to join the School Governance Council, which eventually inspired her to run for a seat on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Board. Valerie won and served from 1997 to 2004, advocating for equitable education.
Valerie’s public service journey continued in 2004 when she was elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners and became the first African American woman to chair the county commission. During her time serving as a County Commissioner, she helped build schools, shut down landfills in historically marginalized communities, and funded community centers.
After 21 years of service, she retired from the Chapel Hill Police Department in 2006, and that same year, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Political Science and African and Afro-American Studies.
In 2012, Valerie was elected to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly first as a State Representative for North Carolina’s 50th District and then as a State Senator for North Carolina’s 23rd District. During her tenure in the General Assembly, Valerie championed legislation for women, people of color, voting rights, and environmental protection. Her efforts included fighting for clean water, mitigating PFAS pollution, safeguarding children from environmental hazards, and modernizing the voter registration process.
After serving as a State Senator for nearly ten years, Valerie announced her campaign to represent North Carolina’s Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021. She won the election in 2022 and is the first African American and the first woman to represent the Fourth District in Congress.
In Congress, Valerie is working tirelessly to bring about meaningful change and amplify the voices and needs of her constituents. She currently serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and is the Vice Ranking Member of the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee and a member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee. She also serves on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and is the Ranking Member of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee and a member of the Energy Subcommittee.