Born in Cambodia, Howard's father, siblings, and grandparents were killed by the Khmer Rouge in the Cambodian genocide.

After fleeing Cambodia in 1979, Howard, along with her mother and stepfather, resettled in a refugee camp and two years later, in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston.

"[1] Howard attended the University of Massachusetts Boston and moved to Lowell in 1991 when she was hired as a bilingual legal secretary.

[1] Howard served on the staff of Congresswoman Niki Tsongas from 2008 to 2019, first as a constituent services representative and later as regional director for the Greater Lowell area.

She defeated the eleven term incumbent David Nangle, who had been indicted on federal fraud charges, and won the general election unopposed.