Candiace Dillard Bassett

Bassett was born on December 14, 1986, in Biloxi, Mississippi. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia with her parents, both physicians for the Air Force. Bassett has two siblings, Chris and Crystal. In 2009, she graduated from Howard University, an HBCU in Washington, D.C., with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and broadcast journalism. She served a tenure in the White House offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs under President Barack Obama and as a staffer for President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. In December 2020, Dillard Bassett announced she had returned to Howard University to obtain a Masters of Business Administration degree, graduating in May 2022.