Born in Shanghai, Ma grew up in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Binghamton, N.Y. She is fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and English and speaks various dialects of Chinese. In 1992, she became a naturalized citizen. Two years later, when she was in eighth grade, she moved to Hong Kong to attend high school.

While she earned her undergraduate degree at New York University (NYU), she volunteered for retired Gen. Wesley Clark’s presidential campaign. “It was really my first taste of politics,” she said. “Canvassing in New York isn’t easy. It’s the New York attitude.”
She explained that she really believed in Clark. “It taught me you have to believe in who you work for,” she said. Ma did one of her research papers at NYU on Ruppersberger, a campaign analysis as if she were writing opposition research. “What I found out was our politics matched so well that I almost couldn’t find something to disagree with,” she said, adding, “Opposition research can also say don’t in this district.”

Ma graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in political science from NYU and began working as a full-time intern for Ruppersberger. The internship lasted five months until she secured employment with Kildee.

Ma adds another element of diversity to Kildee’s already widely diverse staff that includes aides who are African-American, American Indian, Sri Lankan-American and Arab-American.

Rep. Solis names new chief of staff

There’s a new “don” in town: Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) recently named Don Lyster as her new chief of staff. Lyster, 32, who joined Solis’s staff in March 2002, previously served as her legislative counsel.

“With nearly eight years of Capitol Hill experience, Don possesses a wealth of legislative, legal, and policy expertise that will continue to be a tremendous asset to my office, and more importantly, the constituents of the 32nd Congressional District of California,” said Solis.

As legislative counsel, Lyster handled labor, trade, immigration, homeland security and judiciary matters for Solis. He will continue to cover telecommunications in his new position.

Lyster received a bachelor’s degree from Loyola College in Maryland and a law degree and a graduate certificate in law and public policy from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. He formerly worked for Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.). He also worked on the Senate Judiciary Committee and for the American Immigration Law Foundation and the United Mine Workers of America.

Changes in Frist’s office

No more “Moore” in Frist’s office: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is replacing his deputy chief of staff. His outgoing deputy chief of staff, Allen Moore, 60, will move off the Hill to become a senior fellow at the Global Health Council. Moore worked for Frist for four years, and for his 11 previous years on the Hill he worked for former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.), including three years as the chief of staff for the Senate Commerce Committee. He graduated from Pomona College and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Stanford.

He is replaced by Nick Smith, who was the press secretary in Frist’s personal office. Smith’s new role in the leadership office will solely focus on press.

Two aides have also joined Frists’s personal office: Andrea Becker, chief of staff, and Jim Hippe, legislative director.