Biography

Terrycina Andrea "Terri" Sewell (born January 1, 1965) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for Alabama's 7th congressional district since 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of the Black Belt, as well as most of the predominantly African American portions of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery. A native of Huntsville, Sewell studied at Princeton University, Harvard Law School, and St Hilda's College at the University of Oxford. Before entering politics, she was a securities lawyer for Davis Polk & Wardwell and a public finance lawyer for Maynard, Cooper & Gale, where she was the first Black woman to make partner. She is the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Alabama and, along with Republican Martha Roby, was one of the first women elected to Congress from Alabama in a regular election.