She is the seventh African American to hold statewide office following Wilson Riles, Mervyn Dymally, Kamala Harris, Tony Thurmond, Shirley Weber and Laphonza Butler.

The eldest of five girls, she grew up in the Richmond District in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School.

[2] After leaving Newsom's office, Cohen worked as a legislative aide for San Mateo County supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson.

[4][3] In October 2013, Cohen introduced legislation that expanded an existing San Francisco law making it illegal to sell firearms with magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds.

[7] In 2015, Cohen publicly defended San Francisco's sanctuary city laws, which drew the attention of Fox News Host Bill O'Reilly.