Val Demings & Dana Perino

Val Demings's Biography

“Everyone counts, and everyone is accountable,” says Val Demings. Today, she’s a lifelong public servant who broke numerous glass ceilings in her rise through the Orlando Police Department, her election to Congress, her appointment to prosecute the (first) impeachment of former president Donald Trump, her campaign for Senate in Florida, and her consideration as potential running mate to President Joe Biden.

Val Butler Demings learned from her parents about the American Dream. They didn’t have much: two parents and seven children in a small wood-framed house in Jacksonville. Her mother Elouise Butler worked as a maid; her father James as a janitor, landscaper, and orange picker — as many jobs as it took to get by. “Work hard and play by the rules,” they taught her. ”Have faith.” “Treat others as you want to be treated.” “Never tire of doing good.” In America, these were the building blocks of a successful life.

She took her first job at 14 as a dishwasher. Became the first in her family to go to college, showing up with $50 in her pocket and working at a fast food restaurant to pay her way to a B.S. in Criminology from Florida State University and a later Master’s in Public Administration. She became a social worker, working to protect children in broken homes. Then, dismayed at a system that was leaving too many families behind, she signed up to become a police officer — an officer with a social worker’s heart.

It was a tough path, and tougher still in the 80s for a woman and Black American in a profession that had few of either. But she determinedly pushed forward, graduating from the police academy as class president, receiving the Board of Trustees’ Award for Overall Excellence, and earning the reputation of a bold, creative cop willing to take on conventional thinking and the toughest parts of the city.

Chief Demings served 27 years and at every rank level in the department. She commanded the Special Operations division and handled the department’s highest-profile tasks. She coordinated the response of the Airport Division on 9/11. And in 2007, she made history when she was appointed to serve as the city’s first female Chief of Police.

The eyes of the city were on her. The financial crisis was squeezing budgets. But by taking the tough fights head-on, she did more with less, kept officers on the street, and crushed violent crime, reducing it by 40%.

By making the Orlando community a partner of the department, Chief Demings made the concept of “protect and serve” a tangible presence in Orlando’s most dangerous neighborhoods. She launched innovative programs like Operation Positive Direction, a mentoring program that empowers at-risk students through tutoring, community service, and positive incentives. She also launched Operation Free Palms, a project focusing on rejuvenating Orlando's most crime-ridden housing complex, the Palms Apartments. By focusing on unorthodox strategies like access to childcare, building playgrounds, a GED program, and job skills training, she improved the quality of life in Orlando’s most distressed community.

In 2016, Chief Demings was elected by the voters of Florida’s 10th District to serve in Congress. She swiftly gained a reputation as a tireless champion for public safety, civil rights, the rule of law, and the American Dream that had given her a chance to succeed. She gained widespread acclaim for her conduct as a deliberative and justice-focused impeachment manager during the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

In Congress, she served on the House Committees on Judiciary, Intelligence, Homeland Security (chairing the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery) and Oversight and Government Reform. She was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Women’s Caucus, and New Democratic Caucus, a member of the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Review Board and the Elections Security Taskforce, and served as Assistant and Regional Whip for the House Democratic Caucus, Co-Chair of Candidate Recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Vice Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

Demings holds an honorary doctorate of laws from Bethune-Cookman University, as well as honorary doctorates from Florida Technical College and City College Fort Lauderdale. Rep. Demings is an active member of St. Mark A.M.E., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Orlando Chapter of the Links, Inc., NAACP Silver Life Member, Florida Bar Citizens Advisory Committee, Florida Police Chiefs, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives, National Congress of Black Women, and numerous other affiliations.

Val Demings and her husband Jerry Demings (currently serving as Mayor of Orange County) have been blessed with three children and five grandchildren. When she’s not fighting for our democracy and spending time with her family, she rides her Harley-Davidson Road King Classic.

Through all of it, she has never tired of doing good, the lesson taught to her by her parents in their home in Jacksonville. She has never given up on the promise of what America could be, if we have the courage to fight for it.

Dana Perino's Biography

Dana Perino is a revered political commentator and journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and a former White House Press Secretary.

She currently co-anchors America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer & Dana Perino, and is a co-host on the hit show The Five, both on the Fox News Channel. The Five has won its time slot every day since it started in July 2011 and has been named the fourth most-watched program in all of cable. Part of an ensemble cast, some viewers have nicknamed Perino “The Voice of Reason” on The Five. A Fox News political commentator, she also appears weekly on other Fox programs and previously served as anchor of The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino.

Before joining Fox, Perino served as the first Republican woman to be press secretary of the United States. She spent more than seven years as part of the administration of President George W. Bush, joining right after the 9/11 attacks as a spokesperson for the Justice Department. A year later, she was pulled to the White House and stayed until the last day of the Bush administration. As press secretary, she handled interactions with the White House press corps and advised the president on communications. President Bush has said that whenever he did a press conference or interview, Perino made sure he was never surprised by a question. She describes her approach to the position as a 50-50 mindset – half the effort went to defending and advocating the position of the president and the United States, and the other half was defending and advocating the media’s access to the president and the government. Perino continues to be active with the Bush Center in Dallas and joyfully says her motto is, “Once a staffer, always a staffer.”

After her years in the White House, Perino went from speaking on behalf of the nation to speaking for herself. Not only becoming a commentator on current events, politics, and foreign policy, she also published And the Good News Is…Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side, which debuted as a No. 1 New York Times bestseller and remained on the list for more than three months. Her book, Let Me Tell You about Jasper . . .How My Best Friend Became America's Dog, was released in October 2016 and reached the No. 10 spot on the New York Times nonfiction best seller list. Perino’s newest book Everything Will Be Okay: Life Lessons for Young Women (from a Former Young Woman), a no-nonsense how-to guide to life for young women looking to reframe their thinking, to believe in themselves, to take risks, to understand their power, and to feel better overall through finding serenity and taking action, was an instant No. 1 national best-seller and reached the No. 3 spot on The New York Times “Advice, How-to, and Miscellaneous” list. Her other publishing credits include editorial direction for Things that Matter by Charles Krauthammer and The Time of Our Lives by Peggy Noonan. As a podcaster, she Additionally, she co-hosted I’ll Tell You What alongside Chris Stirewalt. Hugely popular, the podcast was made into a limited-run TV show in the fall of 2016, marking the first time Fox turned a podcast into a series. She currently hosts the podcast Everything Will Be Okay for Fox News Radio.

In 2010, President Obama appointed her to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which complemented her passion for advocating for individual and economic freedom, especially for women in Africa. Since leaving the White House, Perino and her husband, Peter McMahon, have volunteered in South Africa and Congo. In 2014 they spent a week at a charitable hospital and came back to America to broadcast their findings and appeal for additional help.

To express her gratitude for the opportunities she’s been afforded, Perino started Minute Mentoring, a program for young women that’s like speed dating between mentors and mentees. She also serves on the board of Companions for Heroes, which matches rescue animals with first-responders and veterans managing post-traumatic stress.

Perino was born in Wyoming and raised in Colorado. She has a masters degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois – Springfield. Before the Bush Administration, she worked as a daily news reporter, as a press secretary on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector for global public relations companies.