Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

Yvonne Burke
Member of the Amtrak Board of Directors
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2013
President	Barack Obama Donald Trump Joe Biden
Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
In office December 8, 1992 – December 1, 2008
Preceded by	Kenneth Hahn
Succeeded by	Mark Ridley-Thomas
Constituency	2nd district
In office January 3, 1979 – December 2, 1980
Preceded by	James A. Hayes
Succeeded by	Deane Dana
Constituency	4th district
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	New constituency (Redistricting)
Succeeded by	Julian Dixon
Constituency	37th district (1973–1975) 28th district (1975–1979)
Member of the California State Assembly from the 63rd district
In office January 2, 1967 – January 3, 1973
Preceded by	Don Allen
Succeeded by	Julian Dixon
Other positions held Chair of Los Angeles County In office December 4, 2007 – December 2, 2008 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 3, 2002 – December 2, 2003 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 3, 1997 – December 2, 1998 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 7, 1993 – December 6, 1994 Preceded by Edmund D. Edelman Succeeded by Gloria Molina Chair Pro Tem of Los Angeles County In office December 5, 2006 – December 4, 2007 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 4, 2001 – December 3, 2002 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 3, 1996 – December 2, 1997 Preceded by Zev Yaroslavsky Succeeded by Don Knabe In office December 8, 1992 – December 7, 1993 Preceded by Edmund D. Edelman Succeeded by Gloria Molina
Personal details
Born	Perle Yvonne Watson (1932-10-05) October 5, 1932 (age 92) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Louis Brathwaite ​ ​ (m. 1957; div. 1964)​ William Burke ​ (m. 1972)​
Children	Autumn, and one step daughter
Education	University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles (BA) University of Southern California (JD)

Yvonne Pearl Burke (née Watson, later Brathwaite; born October 5, 1932) is an American politician and lawyer from California.^[1][2] She was the first African-American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress. She served in the U.S. Congress from 1973–1979. She represented the 2nd District on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1992–2008.^[3] She served as Chair of Los Angeles County four times and served as chair pro tem three times.

In 1973, she became the first member of the U.S. Congress to give birth while in office, and she was the first person to be granted maternity leave by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

She serves on the Board of Directors of Amtrak, having been appointed to the position by President Barack Obama in 2012.