Locality
Winchester
Occupation
Lieutenant Governor
Biography
A trailblazer in Virginia politics, Winsome Earle-Sears was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in New York. In 1983 she joined the United States Marine Corps and was the only woman in her engineering class. Rising to the rank of corporal, Earle-Sears also became an American citizen. She credits the Marine Corps with instilling the self-discipline and leadership that shape her today.
Earle-Sears settled in the Norfolk area and continued serving her community through her work in directing a women’s homeless shelter and leading a men’s prison ministry. She earned an associate degree from Tidewater Community College, a bachelor’s degree in English from Old Dominion University in 1992, and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Regent University in 2003. In 2001 she won election to a single two-year term representing a district comprising the cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates. Earle-Sears served on the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans for the Department of Veterans Affairs. An advocate for the power of education to improve lives, she was appointed to the State Board of Education in 2011, and was elected its vice president in 2014. In her historic race for lieutenant governor of Virginia, Earle-Sears, who also owned and operated a business in Winchester, campaigned on issues related to education, criminal justice and veterans affairs. Winning election in 2021, Earle-Sears became the first woman elected lieutenant governor and the first Black woman and female veteran to hold statewide office in Virginia.
2025 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History honoree, Library of Virginia and Dominion Energy.
Watch Winsome Earle-Sears's recorded remarks shown at the Dominion Energy reception honoring the 2025 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History honorees on February 6, 2025.
Earle-Sears settled in the Norfolk area and continued serving her community through her work in directing a women’s homeless shelter and leading a men’s prison ministry. She earned an associate degree from Tidewater Community College, a bachelor’s degree in English from Old Dominion University in 1992, and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Regent University in 2003. In 2001 she won election to a single two-year term representing a district comprising the cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates. Earle-Sears served on the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans for the Department of Veterans Affairs. An advocate for the power of education to improve lives, she was appointed to the State Board of Education in 2011, and was elected its vice president in 2014. In her historic race for lieutenant governor of Virginia, Earle-Sears, who also owned and operated a business in Winchester, campaigned on issues related to education, criminal justice and veterans affairs. Winning election in 2021, Earle-Sears became the first woman elected lieutenant governor and the first Black woman and female veteran to hold statewide office in Virginia.
2025 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History honoree, Library of Virginia and Dominion Energy.
Watch Winsome Earle-Sears's recorded remarks shown at the Dominion Energy reception honoring the 2025 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History honorees on February 6, 2025.
File Citation(s)
Photograph courtesy of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.