Natalie A. Braswell is an American lawyer and public servant who served as

Connecticut State Comptroller The State Comptroller is the chief fiscal guardian of the State of Connecticut. The duties and responsibilities of the state comptroller include, among other things, overseeing state accounting, preparing state financial reports, paying and administ ...

, one of the state's six constitutional officers and its chief fiscal guardian. Braswell was Connecticut's first African-American comptroller. She was appointed to fill the year-long unexpired term of Kevin Lembo.

Life and career

Braswell attended the University of Connecticut, from which she received a BA in political science in 2000, an MPA in public administration in 2002, and a JD in 2007. She has taught legal practice as an adjunct professor at UConn School of Law and served on the school's foundation board and its diversity, equity, and belonging committee. She served as vice president of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association from 2007 to 2011. She is a member of the

Connecticut Bar Association The Connecticut State Bar Association (CBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of Connecticut. History The CBA was founded on June 2, 1875. In 1878, members of CBA met in Saratoga Springs, New York, to lead in founding the national ba ...

. Braswell began her career working as an associate attorney with the law office of Updike, Kelly & Spacey in Hartford from 2007 to 2011. From 2011 to 2021, she worked as general counsel and assistant comptroller under

Kevin Lembo Kevin P. Lembo (born September 6, 1963) is a Democratic elected official who served as the Connecticut State Comptroller, the statewide elected official responsible for reporting on state finances, administering health care plans for public empl ...

. Her duties included managing all legal affairs for the Office of the State Comptroller, negotiating and preparing contracts, overseeing procurement processes, and serving as the office's ethics liaison. Starting in March 2021, Braswell became chief of legal, planning and regulatory affairs at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. She is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. Governor Ned Lamont appointed Braswell to be comptroller effective December 31, 2021, after Kevin Lembo resigned due to ill health. Following the example of Governor

William A. O'Neill William Atchison O'Neill (August 11, 1930November 24, 2007) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 84th Governor of Connecticut from 1980 to 1991. He was the second longest-serving governor in Connectic ...

, Lamont appointed Braswell as a caretaker after she committed not to seek a full four-year term. She served until the next comptroller, Sean Scanlon, assumed office on January 3, 2023. Braswell lives with her husband, Robert, and daughter, Gabby, in

Bloomfield, Connecticut Bloomfield is a suburb of Hartford in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town's population was 21,535 at the 2020 census. Bloomfield is best known as the headquarters of healthcare services company Cigna. History Originally land ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braswell, Natalie 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians American civil servants American women civil servants American women lawyers Connecticut Comptrollers Connecticut Democrats Connecticut lawyers Living people University of Connecticut School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)