About Chirlane

Chirlane McCray—writer, poet, activist, and longtime partner of Bill de Blasio—has worked in a wide range of fields over her 30-year career, including politics, publishing and healthcare. In capacities both professional and personal, Chirlane has always brought her progressive values to any endeavor she takes on.

Bill and Chirlane’s own relationship was steeped in political activism from their first encounter; they met in City Hall in 1991 while Chirlane was in the Mayor’s Press office and Bill was assisting Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch. In Bill, Chirlane found a partner both in life and work—a true believer in progressive values who shared her commitment to social justice.

The following year, Chirlane and Bill moved to Park Slope and they were married in Prospect Park in the spring of 1994.

Both strong believers in the power of an individual to make a difference, Chirlane and Bill have encouraged their children, Dante and Chiara, to be involved in their community and with making the world a better place. Whether participating in a rally, serving meals to the hungry, going door-to-door for Obama, or supporting Dad on the campaign trail, raising awareness or giving back is often a family activity.

Like many New York City parents, Chirlane and Bill work hard together to raise their two children and navigate the public school system. Both individually and as a team, Chirlane and Bill are purposefully working to make a quality education more accessible to young people and New York City more livable for every family.

Chirlane began writing at a young age. By high school she learned ways to use writing as a tool for activism. While studying at Wellesley College and the famed Radcliffe Publishing Course, Chirlane became a member of the Combahee River Collective, a pioneering black feminist collective, which inspired her to write groundbreaking prose and poetry.

After moving to New York, Chirlane spent nearly a decade in magazine publishing, working as a writer, editor and marketing research analyst, in addition to freelance writing for Essence magazine and performing spoken word poetry. In 1983, her work was published in Homegirls, a black feminist anthology still used in college classes today.

Throughout her writing career, Chirlane has tackled a wide range of projects. She worked as a speechwriter for Mayor David N. Dinkins, State Comptroller Carl McCall, and City Comptroller Bill Thompson. She also served as a political appointee during the Clinton Administration at the New York Foreign Press Center.

In 2005, Chirlane began work at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where she spent nearly five years immersed in the challenge of developing culturally sensitive messages in a hospital environment. In partnership with the advertising firm Della Femina, Chirlane also worked to re-brand the hospital to attract a wider clientele and to increase visibility city-wide and in the local, ethnic communities surrounding the hospital.

Today, Chirlane employs her communications background and talent for writing as a strategic partner for Mack|Crounse Group, which creates persuasion mail programs for Democratic candidates, unions and non-profit organizations.