Maya Harris

Last updated

Maya Harris
Maya Harris (1).jpg
Harris in 2017
Born
Maya Lakshmi Harris

(1967-01-30) January 30, 1967 (age 57)
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Education University of California, Berkeley (BA)
Stanford University (JD)
Political party Democratic
Spouse
​
(m. 1998)​
Children Meena Harris
Parents
Relatives Family of Kamala Harris

Maya Lakshmi Harris (born January 30, 1967) is an American lawyer, public policy advocate, and writer. Harris was one of three senior policy advisors for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign's policy agenda and she also served as chair of the 2020 presidential campaign of her sister, Kamala Harris. [1]

Contents

Harris was born in Champaign–Urbana, Illinois, and was educated at Bishop O'Dowd High School, the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University. She was involved with PolicyLink, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Center for American Progress.

Early life and education

Maya Lakshmi Harris was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and Montreal, Quebec. She is a daughter of Shyamala Gopalan Harris (1938–2009), a breast cancer researcher who emigrated from Chennai (formerly Madras), India in 1960; and Donald Harris, a Jamaican-born Stanford University economics professor, now emeritus. [2] Her maternal grandfather, P. V. Gopalan was a career civil servant with federal Government of India. [3] She and her older sister, Kamala, were raised with beliefs from Baptist and Hindu faiths. [4] At 17, she gave birth to her only child, Meena Harris. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. That year, she enrolled in Stanford Law School. While at Stanford, she was an editor of the Stanford Law Review, and active with the East Palo Alto Community Law Project, serving as Co-Coordinator of the Domestic Violence Clinic and co-chair of the Student Steering Committee. [5] [6] She received her J.D. degree in 1992 "with distinction." [7]

Career

After receiving her J.D. degree from Stanford Law School, Harris served as a law clerk for United States District Court Judge James Ware in the Northern District of California. [8] In 1994, Harris joined the San Francisco law firm of Jackson Tufts Cole & Black, LLP, working in civil and criminal litigation. [8]

Harris served as an adjunct law professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law. She also taught gender discrimination at U.C. Hastings College of the Law and contract law at New College of California School of Law and was Dean at Lincoln Law School of San Jose. [8]

She was later appointed Dean and chief executive officer of Lincoln Law School of San Jose. At 29, she was one of the youngest law school deans ever in the United States, and the only Black woman at the time. [9] [10]

Advocacy

Maya with her sister, Vice President Kamala Harris Kamala and Maya Harris.jpg
Maya with her sister, Vice President Kamala Harris

Harris was a Senior Associate at PolicyLink, a national research and action institute dedicated to advancing economic and social equity. In that capacity, she organized conferences around police-community relations [11] and advocated for police reform, [12] authoring two national publications. [13]

Harris served as executive director of the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union. She was the first Jamaican American to lead the ACLU of Northern California and the first South Asian executive director of an ACLU affiliate. [14] In her role as the head of the largest affiliate office of the ACLU, Harris directed and coordinated litigation, media relations, lobbying, and grassroots organizing work. She earlier served as the affiliate's Racial Justice Project Director, establishing priorities including eliminating racial disparities in the criminal justice system and achieving educational equity in California public schools. [15] In 2003, Harris was the Northern California director for No on 54, the successful campaign to defeat Proposition 54, which sought to ban state agencies from collecting racial and ethnic data. [16] In 2006, she was the lead attorney in League of Women Voters of California v. McPherson, a case which restored voting rights to over 100,000 Californians in county jails on probation from felony convictions. [17]

Philanthropy

In 2008, Harris was appointed vice president for Democracy, Rights and Justice at the Ford Foundation. The program focused on promoting effective governance, increasing democratic participation, and protecting and advancing human rights worldwide, and she led a global team in making grants of over $150 million annually. [18]

Politics

Harris was a Senior Associate at PolicyLink. [8] From 2008 until 2013, Harris was vice president for Democracy, Rights and Justice at the Ford Foundation. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, she served as the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California, the largest ACLU affiliate in the country. [19] [20] Harris was formerly a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress [21] and a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School. [22] She was a political and legal analyst for MSNBC from 2017 until 2018, [23]

As Clinton's campaign representative to the Democratic Party Platform Committee, Harris helped draft the 2016 platform. [24] Harris served as campaign chairwoman for her sister's 2020 campaign for president until the campaign's suspension. [25]

Writing

Harris authored the essay "Fostering Accountable Community-Centered Policing", which appeared in the 2006 book The Covenant with Black America . [15] She was also a contributing author to The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink, publishing the essay "The Gender Wage Gap: A Civil Rights Issue for Our Time." [26]

Harris has authored publications which include, Community-Centered Policing: A Force for Change, a report highlighting community-centered policing practices nationwide, and Organized for Change: The Activist's Guide to Police Reform, an advocacy manual for police reform. [27] [28] In 2008, Harris published Making Every Vote Count: Reforming Felony Disenfranchisement Policies and Practices in California. [29] In 2014, she authored Women of Color: A Growing Force in the American Electorate. [30]

In 2020, Harris wrote in The Atlantic and Women's Health Magazine about living with the chronic illness lupus. [31] [32]

Awards and honors

In 1997, the Young Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association honored her with the Junius W. Williams Young Lawyer of the Year Award. [14] The following year, she was named one of the Top 20 Up and Coming Lawyers Under 40 by the San Francisco Daily Journal . [33]

In 2006, Harris was named one of 10 notable Desis of the year. [34] She was awarded the Women Who Dare Award from Girls, Inc. in 2008. [35] In 2009, Harris was named to the first class of The Root 100, celebrating the "leadership, service and excellence of African-American men and women whose passion, dedication and innovative work have set them apart." [36] She was presented with the Champion of Justice Award from Equal Rights Advocates in 2014, an award given annually to a hero in the movement for gender equality. [37]

Personal life

Harris has been married to Tony West since July 1998. Maya and Tony were both in the class of 1992 at Stanford Law School, where they became friends but did not start a relationship until after graduation. [8] [38] Her daughter Meena Harris graduated from Stanford in 2006 and from Harvard Law School in 2012. [8] [39] Her sister Kamala Harris is the Vice President of the United States. [40]

In 2020, Harris revealed she had been diagnosed with lupus at the age of 22. [41]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Civil Liberties Union</span> Legal advocacy organization in the United States

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit human rights organization founded in 1920. The organization strives "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and has more than 1,800,000 members as of July 2018, with an annual budget over $300 million. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases where it considers civil liberties at risk. Legal support from the ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance Baker Motley</span> American judge and politician (1921–2005)

Constance Baker Motley was an American jurist and politician who served as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

"Driving while black" (DWB) is a sardonic description of racial profiling of African-American motor vehicle drivers. It implies that a motorist may be stopped by a police officer largely because of racial bias rather than any apparent violation of traffic law. It is a word play of "driving while intoxicated."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony D. Romero</span> American activist

Anthony D. Romero is an American lawyer who serves as the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. He assumed the position in 2001 as the first Latino and openly gay man to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamala Harris</span> Vice president of the United States since 2021

Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States under President Joe Biden. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president. A member of the Democratic Party, she was previously attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017 and a U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberlé Crenshaw</span> American academic and lawyer (born 1959)

Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory. She is a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specializes in race and gender issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanita Gupta</span> American lawyer (born 1974)

Vanita Gupta is an American attorney who served as United States Associate Attorney General from April 22, 2021, to February 2, 2024. From 2014 to 2017, Gupta served as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division under President Barack Obama.

Black women have been involved in American socio-political issues and advocating for the community since the American Civil War era through organizations, clubs, community-based social services, and advocacy. Black women are currently underrepresented in the United States in both elected offices and in policy made by elected officials. Although data shows that women do not run for office in large numbers when compared to men, Black women have been involved in issues concerning identity, human rights, child welfare, and misogynoir within the political dialogue for decades. Women in government are preferred by ethnic minorities over their White colleagues. Researchers studying black politics have discovered that White voters have prejudices towards Black candidates. Descriptive representation is important for Black voters. Black women's positional behavior and ideology are influenced by a distinctive Black female consciousness. Support for Black women candidates among Black women may result from a prioritization of racial concerns above gendered interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony West (attorney)</span> American lawyer (born 1965)

Derek Anthony West is an American attorney and former government official, and the current Senior Vice President and chief legal officer of Uber. Before Uber, West was Associate Attorney General of the United States and general counsel of PepsiCo. West previously served as the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division, the largest litigating division in the Department of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine E. Lhamon</span> American attorney and government official (born 1971)

Catherine Elizabeth Lhamon is an American attorney and government official who is the assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education. She previously served in this position from 2013 to 2017. During her tenure, Lhamon instituted changes to Title IX rules that were praised by some feminist and progressive groups, but received criticism across the political spectrum as violations of due process. She was also deputy chair of the United States Domestic Policy Council for racial justice and equality from January to October 2021, and chaired the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 2016 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chase Strangio</span> American lawyer and transgender rights activist

Chase Strangio is an American lawyer and transgender rights activist. He is the Deputy Director for Transgender Justice and staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maya Rupert</span> American political strategist, writer, and advocate

Maya Rupert is an American political strategist, writer, and advocate. She is the campaign manager for Maya Wiley for New York City mayor. She was the campaign manager for Julian Castro in the 2020 presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Emhoff</span> Second Gentleman of the United States since 2021

Douglas Craig Emhoff is an American lawyer who is the second gentleman of the United States. He is married to the 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. As the first husband of a vice president, Emhoff is the first second gentleman in American history. He is also the first Jewish spouse of a vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign</span>

The 2020 presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, a United States senator from California from January 2017 to 2021, officially began on January 21, 2019, with an announcement on Good Morning America. Harris had widely been considered a "high profile" candidate for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries since 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political positions of Kamala Harris</span> Policies of Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States

The political positions of Kamala Harris are reflected by her United States Senate voting record, public speeches, and interviews. Kamala Harris served as the junior senator from California from 2017 to 2021. On August 11, 2020, Harris was selected by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to be his running mate in the 2020 United States presidential election, running against incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. With Biden's election victory, Harris was subsequently elected as vice president. Harris was described by The New York Times as a pragmatic moderate, with policy positions that broadly mirror those of Biden. However, the non-partisan GovTrack rated Harris as the most liberal U.S. Senator, prompting debate over her position in center-left and left-wing politics. Despite this, left-wing activists have criticised Harris on numerous occasions for her past actions as a prosecutor, which have been called “right-wing”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Floyd Justice in Policing Act</span> Bill in the United States Congress

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 was a policing reform bill drafted by Democrats in the United States Congress. The legislation was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on February 24, 2021. The legislation aims to combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meena Harris</span> American attorney and author (born 1984)

MeenakshiAshley Harris is an American lawyer, children's book author, producer, and founder of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, which creates statement fashion to support charity. In June 2020, Harris released her first book from HarperCollins, entitled Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, which is based on the story of her mother, Maya Harris, and aunt, Kamala Harris, the 49th Vice President of the United States.

Donald Jasper Harris is a Jamaican-American economist and professor emeritus at Stanford University, known for applying post-Keynesian ideas to development economics. He is the father of the 49th and current vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, as well as of her sister, lawyer and political commentator Maya Harris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family of Kamala Harris</span> Family of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is the 49th vice president of the United States. Harris was formerly the junior United States senator from California, and prior to her election to the Senate, she served as the 32nd attorney general of California. Her family includes several members who are notable in politics and academia.

Deborah N. Archer is an American civil rights lawyer and law professor. She is the Jacob K. Javits Professor at New York University and professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law. She also directs the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law and the Civil Rights Clinic at NYU School of Law. In January 2021, she was elected president of the American Civil Liberties Union, becoming the first African American to hold the position in the organization’s history.

References

  1. ↑ Nather, David (April 14, 2015). "Hillary Clinton names top three wonks for campaign". Politico . Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ "PM Golding congratulates Kamala Harris - daughter of Jamaican - on appointment as California's First Woman Attorney General". Jamaica Information Service. December 2, 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Obituary: Dr. Shyamala G. Harris". San Francisco Chronicle. March 22, 2009. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  4. ↑ Owens, Donna M. (January 13, 2016). "California Attorney General Kamala Harris Plans to be America's Next Black Female Senator". Essence . Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Officially Speaking". Student Lawyer. 27 (2). Law Student Division, American Bar Association: 16. December 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Editorial Board" (PDF). Stanford Law Review. 44. 1991. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Stanford Law School presents diplomas, honors". news.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Driscoll, Sharon (May 17, 2010). "Tony and Maya: Partners in Public Service". Stanford Lawyer. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  9. ↑ Jong-Fast, Molly (August 17, 2020). "A New Political Dynasty: How Maya and Kamala Harris Have Reinvented the Role of the Political Sibling". Town & Country. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  10. ↑ Simeon, Booker (August 26, 1996). "National Headliners". Jet. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  11. ↑ Hafertepen, Eric (July 5, 2001). "News: We Have to Talk About This". CityBeat. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  12. ↑ Prendergast, Jane (June 2, 2001). "Researchers urge police reforms". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
  13. ↑ "PolicyLink Guide Offers Innovative Strategies for Police Reform Advocates". PolicyLink. April 8, 2004. Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  14. 1 2 "ACLU of Northern California Appoints New Executive Director to Lead Largest ACLU Affiliate in the Country". American Civil Liberties Union. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  15. 1 2 "Fostering Accountable Community-Centered Policing" . The Covenant with Black America (1st ed.). Chicago: Third World Press. 2006. pp.  71–95. ISBN   978-0-88378-277-4.
  16. ↑ "Prop. 54 soundly beaten: The tide turned when foes of the ballot measure shifted gears from bias to health care". The Sacramento Bee. October 8, 2003. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  17. ↑ Egelko, Bob (December 28, 2006). "CALIFORNIA / Voting rights restored for thousands in state on probation / Problem started last year when state reinterpreted a law". SFGATE. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Stanford Law's First Black History Month Gala Explores the Next 50 Years of Civil Rights and Racial Justice: U.S. Associate Attorney General Tony West and Senior Fellow at American Progress Maya Harris Keynote". Stanford Law School. February 26, 2014. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Maya Harris, ACLU-NC Executive Director". ACLU. Archived from the original on November 18, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  20. ↑ Ifill, Gwen (2009). The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama (1st ed.). New York: Anchor Books. p. 208. ISBN   978-0-7679-2890-8.
  21. ↑ Horwitz, Sari (September 3, 2014). "Tony West, third-ranking official at Justice Department, to step down". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Harvard Law School Names Civil Rights Lawyer Maya L. Harris Visiting Scholar". Harvard Law Today. October 29, 2013. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Tuesday's Juice". Politico . June 20, 2017. Archived from the original on May 4, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Democrats Advance Most Progressive Platform in Party History". NBC News. July 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Who is Kamala Harris' younger sister and why do people call her the next 'Bobby Kennedy'". The Independent. August 13, 2020. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  26. ↑ Harris, Maya (May 17, 2014). "The Gender Wage Gap: A Civil Rights Issue for Our Time". The Shriver Report. ISBN   978-1-137-27974-3. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  27. ↑ Harris, Maya (2001). Community-Centered Policing: A Force for Change (PDF). PolicyLink.
  28. ↑ Harris, Maya (2004). Organized for Change: The Activist's Guide to Police Reform (PDF). PolicyLink.
  29. ↑ Harris, Maya (2008). Making Every Vote Count: Reforming Felony Disenfranchisement Policies and Practices in California (PDF). American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
  30. ↑ Harris, Maya (October 30, 2014). "Women of Color: A Growing Force in the American Electorate". Center for American Progress. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  31. ↑ Harris, Maya L. (April 12, 2020). "Some Patients Really Need the Drug That Trump Keeps Pushing". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  32. ↑ Harris, Maya L. (June 7, 2020). "Maya Harris: 'I Refused To Let Lupus Define Me—So I Kept It A Secret For 30 Years'". Women's Health. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  33. ↑ Equal Justice Society; Protecting Equally: Dismantling the Intent Doctrine & Healing Racial Wounds, Maya Harris
  34. ↑ "Desis of the Year 2006". Best Indian American Magazine | San Jose CA | India Currents. December 6, 2006. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  35. ↑ "Girls Inc. salutes local 'Women Who Dare". East Bay Times. April 28, 2008. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  36. ↑ "Who Would You Add To The Root 100? | On Being A Black Lawyer". October 26, 2009. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  37. ↑ "Intergenerational feminism and the path ahead". Feministing. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  38. ↑ Horwitz, Sari (February 27, 2012). "Justice Dept. lawyer Tony West to take over as acting associate attorney general". Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  39. ↑ "Meena Harris '12". Harvard Law Today. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  40. ↑ Brandon Tensley and Jasmine Wright (November 7, 2020). "Harris becomes the first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect". CNN. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  41. ↑ Harris, Maya L. (June 7, 2020). "Maya Harris: 'I Refused To Let Lupus Define Me—So I Kept It A Secret For 30 Years'". Women's Health. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.