Winsome Earle-Sears

Winsome Earle-Sears is a Jamaican-born American public servant, Marine Corps veteran, businesswoman, and former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. She was born in Kingston, Jamaica, immigrated to the United States at age six, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1983 to 1986. She earned degrees from Tidewater Community College, Old Dominion University, and Regent University, and later served as vice president of the Virginia State Board of Education. In 2001, she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and in 2021 she was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, becoming the first woman elected to that office and the first Black woman to hold statewide office in Virginia. Her career has also included running a women’s homeless shelter, leading prison ministry work, owning a business, and advocating for education, veterans, and economic opportunity.