Ann Ravel was a 2017 fellow with New America CA. Ravel was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President Barack Obama on June 21, 2013. After her appointment received the unanimous consent of the United States Senate, Ravel joined the Commission on October 25, 2013. She served as vice chair of the commission in 2014, and chair in 2015 before leaving in 2017.
From March 2011 until her appointment to the commission, Ravel served as chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to which Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed her. At the FPPC, Ravel oversaw the regulation of campaign finance, lobbyist registration and reporting, and ethics and conflicts of interest related to officeholders and public employees. During her tenure at the FPPC, Ravel was instrumental in the creation of the States' Unified Network (SUN) Center, a web-based center for sharing information on campaign finance.
Before joining the FPPC, Ravel served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Torts and Consumer Litigation in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. Ravel also worked as an attorney in the Santa Clara County Counsel's Office, ultimately serving as the appointed County Counsel from 1998 until 2009. Ravel represented the county and its elected officials, provided advice on the state Political Reform Act, and initiated groundbreaking programs in elder abuse litigation, educational rights, and consumer litigation on behalf of the Santa Clara County government and the community.
Ravel has served as an elected governor on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, a member of the Judicial Council of the State of California, and chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. In 2014, she was named a California Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer magazine for her work in government law, and in 2007, the State Bar of California named Ravel Public Attorney of the Year for her contributions to public service.
Ravel received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley and her JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Ravel is the daughter of a Latin American immigrant mother and an American father. She was raised in Latin America before her family settled in the San Francisco Bay area, which she considers home.