Biography

Early Life & Family

Kamala Devi Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a breast cancer researcher who had emigrated from Chennai, India. Her father, Donald Harris, is a Stanford University economics professor who emigrated from Jamaica. Her parents met as graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, where both were active in the civil rights movement.

Harris and her younger sister Maya were raised primarily by their mother after their parents divorced. Shyamala Gopalan instilled in her daughters a deep sense of civic responsibility and cultural pride. Harris has spoken often of her mother's influence, saying she was "the most important person in my life."

Growing up, Harris was exposed to the civil rights movement through her parents' activism. She attended Rainbow Sign, a Black cultural centre in Berkeley, and participated in protests from a young age. She has recalled being taken to civil rights marches in a stroller as an infant.

Education

Harris attended Westmount High School in Montréal, Canada, where she lived briefly with her mother, before returning to the United States. She enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C. — a historically Black university — where she majored in Political Science and Economics, graduating in 1986. At Howard, she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and served as a leader in student government.

She went on to earn her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (now UC College of the Law, San Francisco) in 1989. She was admitted to the California Bar in 1990.

Legal Career

Harris began her legal career as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, where she prosecuted cases involving sexual assault and homicide. She later joined the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and then the San Francisco City Attorney's Office.

In 2003, she ran for San Francisco District Attorney and won, becoming the first woman and the first Black and South Asian American to hold the office. She served two terms, from 2004 to 2011, focusing on criminal justice reform, reducing recidivism through re-entry programmes, and protecting victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.

Personal Life

In 2014, Harris married attorney Douglas Emhoff. She became stepmother to his two children, Cole and Ella, who affectionately call her "Momala." Douglas Emhoff became the first Second Gentleman of the United States when Harris was inaugurated as Vice President in January 2021.