Kamala Devi Harris born on 20 October 1964, Oakland, California grew up in Berkeley and after her mother’s research took the family abroad attended high-school in Montréal, Canada. She returned to the United States for college, earning a B.A. in Political Science & Economics from Howard University (1986) where she chaired the Economics Society, led the debate team and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She then completed a J.D. at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (1989) and was admitted to the California Bar in 1990.
Harris began as a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County (1990-1998), specializing in child-sexual-assault cases. Promoted to Managing Attorney of the San Francisco DA’s Career-Criminal Unit, she next ran the City Attorney’s Division on Children & Families, launching truancy-reduction and hate-crime programs that became state-wide models.
Elected the first woman and first Black DA of San Francisco, Harris implemented “Back on Track” re-entry initiatives that cut recidivism, refused to seek the death penalty, and published the best-seller Smart on Crime. Sworn in as the first female, first Black and first South-Asian AG in California history, she secured a $25 billion national mortgage settlement, defended the Affordable Care Act before the U.S. Supreme Court, imposed environmental penalties on polluters and required all state law-enforcement agencies to wear body-cameras.
After winning a historic Senate seat, Harris served on the Judiciary, Intelligence, Homeland Security and Budget committees. Her pointed questioning in hearings (e.g., of Attorneys-General Sessions & Barr) and legislative work on the MORE Act, Dream Act and Lift the Middle-Class tax credits raised her national profile.
49th Vice-President of the United States (2021-2025)
Inaugurated on 20 January 2021, she became the first woman, first Black American and first South-Asian to hold the viece-presidency. Harris chaired the National Space Council, led diplomatic outreach to 21 countries, championed the first federal anti-lynching law, defended reproductive rights after Dobbs, and cast a record 33 tie-breaking Senate votes to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
On 21 July 2024 President Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed Harris. She secured the Democratic nomination, proposed a $6,000 expanded Child Tax Credit, a federal grocery price-gouging ban, insulin caps at $35 and a $25,000 first-time-home-buyer credit, but narrowly lost the 5 November election. She nevertheless presided over the 6 January 2025 certification of the Electoral College, underscoring her commitment to democratic norms.
Post-Vice-Presidency (2025-present)
Returning to Los Angeles, Harris accepted the NAACP Image Awards Chairman’s Award (Feb 2025) and released her memoir 107 Days (Sept 2025). She continues to advocate for voting rights, reproductive freedom and inclusive economic growth through national speaking engagements and the When We Fight, We Win civic-engagement fund launched this autumn.
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