Barbara Ballard was born in 1944 in Petersburg, Virginia. She received her BA from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and both her MS in counseling and her PhD in counseling and student personnel services from Kansas State University in Manhattan.

Since 1980, Ballard has been associated with the University of Kansas, serving in capacities that have included associate vice provost for student success, associate dean for student life, director of the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center and, since 2004, senior associate director of outreach for the Dole Institute of Politics.

Ballard was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1992 and has since represented the 44th District, which covers part of the city of Lawrence and Wakarusa Township in Douglas County. She has served as president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and was in 2007 named Outstanding Legislator of the Year by that group. She is the Democratic Caucus Chair and House Minority Caucus Chair and is the first African American to serve on the House leadership team. She has been the ranking minority member of the Social Services Budget Committee and has served on the Legislative Education Planning Committee, Transportation, Appropriations, and Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight Committees.