Born in Milton, Massachusetts, on August 14, 1954, Pierce went to the City College of San Francisco and worked in community liaison/culinary union.
[1][2][3] Pierce was born in Milton, Massachusetts, the seventh of eight children and the daughter of an Episcopal priest active in the civil rights movement.
She was elected to the Assembly in 2002 and represented a western Las Vegas district south of Summerlin while holding a job at the United Labor Agency of Nevada.
In a special session in 2010, Pierce was one of two lawmakers who broke ranks with the Democratic leadership saying that the state should raise taxes even in the depths of the recession.
Steven Horsford praised her saying, "While she ultimately succumbed to that, I'll remember her coming to the floor having just had chemotherapy because she knew how important it was to represent her constituents".