Douglass earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Southern California.
Douglass served as a senior strategist and spokeswoman for the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign.
[5] During President Barack Obama's first term, she was director of communications for the White House Office of Health Reform from 2009 to 2010.
[13] In October 2022, Douglass joined the Council for Responsible Social Media project launched by Issue One to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media in the United States co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader Dick Gephardt and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.
[14][15] Douglass is married to the former United States ambassador to Italy, John R. Phillips, and they have one daughter.