Maya Harris: A Life Dedicated to Law, Policy, and Advocacy

Maya Lakshmi Harris, born on January 30, 1967, is an American lawyer, public policy advocate, and writer whose career has been dedicated to advancing civil rights, social justice, and effective governance. She is the younger sister of Vice President Kamala Harris and has been a significant figure in American politics and philanthropy for over two decades.

Early Life and Education

Maya Harris was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and Montreal, Quebec. She is the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a Tamil breast cancer researcher who emigrated from Madras (now Chennai), India, in 1958, and Donald Harris, a Jamaican-born Stanford University economics professor, now emeritus. Her maternal grandfather, P. V. Gopalan, was a career civil servant with the Government of India. Maya and her older sister, Kamala, were raised with beliefs from Baptist and Hindu faiths.

At 17, while attending Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, she gave birth to her only child, Meena Harris. Despite the challenges of being a young, single mother, Harris pursued her education with determination. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989. That same year, she enrolled in Stanford Law School, where she excelled academically and became an editor of the Stanford Law Review. She was also 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. She earned her J.D. with Distinction from Stanford Law School.

Early Career and Legal Work

After receiving her J.D., Harris served as an adjunct law professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, teaching gender discrimination at U.C. Hastings College of the Law and Lincoln Law School of San Jose. She also practiced law as a civil litigator.

Harris's early career demonstrates a commitment to both practical legal work and academic pursuits, setting the stage for her later roles in public policy and advocacy.

Lincoln Law School Dean

At the age of 29, Harris was appointed Dean and Chief Executive Officer of Lincoln Law School of San Jose, reportedly becoming one of the youngest law school deans in the country. During her tenure, she recruited new faculty, revamped the core curriculum, and successfully renewed the school's state bar accreditation. Her leadership at Lincoln Law School showcased her ability to manage and improve an academic institution, further solidifying her reputation as a talented and capable leader.

ACLU and Social Justice Advocacy

Harris transitioned to civil rights and left-wing advocacy, becoming a senior associate at PolicyLink, a national research and action institute dedicated to advancing economic and social equity.

In 2003, Harris joined the staff of the ACLU's Northern California chapter. She directed the group's racial justice project until becoming the associate director of the regional organization in 2005. As the Executive Director of the ACLU of Northern California, the largest affiliate office of the ACLU, Harris directed and coordinated litigation, media relations, lobbying, and grassroots organizing work. She was the first Jamaican American to lead the ACLU of Northern California and the first South Asian executive director of an ACLU affiliate.

Her work at the ACLU focused on issues such as:

Eliminating racial disparities in the criminal justice system
Achieving educational equity in California public schools
Racial profiling
Abolishing California's "three strikes" law
Campaigning against California Prop. 54, which would allow California public agencies to obtain information on race, ethnicity, and national origin.

In 2003 Maya Harris, was director of the Racial Justice Project for the ACLU's Northern California chapter.

Read also: Achievements of Maya Angelou

Harris also served as lead counsel in League of Women Voters v. McPherson, restoring voting rights of over 100,000 Californians, authored Making Every Vote Count: Reforming Felony Disenfranchisement Policies and Practices in California, and helped lead five statewide ballot initiative campaigns on issues ranging from racial and criminal justice to LGBT and reproductive rights.

Her efforts in the ACLU demonstrated her ability to lead and coordinate large-scale advocacy initiatives, solidifying her role as a prominent voice in the fight for civil rights and social justice.

Ford Foundation

In 2008, Harris was appointed vice president for democracy, rights and justice at the Ford Foundation, a role she held until 2013. Managing a global team, Harris directed over $750 million in investments aimed at promoting effective governance, increasing democratic participation, and advancing civil and human rights around the world. These investments included launching Ford’s first LGBT rights initiative, fueling nationwide efforts to protect voting rights, and working to expand economic and political opportunities for women.

Center for American Progress and Harvard Law School

In 2013, after five years at the Ford Foundation, Harris joined the Center for American Progress-a 501(c)(3) organization-as a senior fellow. While a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Maya authored the groundbreaking report, Women of Color: A Growing Force in the American Electorate, documenting the prominence of women of color, especially Black women, in influencing political outcomes.

Role in Political Campaigns

Harris has played a significant role in several high-profile political campaigns. In 2015, Hillary Clinton named Harris as one of her three senior policy advisors for her 2016 presidential campaign. She led a team of policy experts to help develop Clinton’s domestic policy agenda and was Clinton’s representative for the development of the 2016 Democratic Party Platform, considered the most progressive party platform in the Democratic Party’s history.

In July 2016, Harris was the lead strategist involved in the campaign's efforts to help craft the platform of the Democratic Party. Harris was the lead campaign representative during pre-convention discussions of the platform's planks, including blocking an amendment that would have formally opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). According to NBC News, Harris helped to negotiate a plank that called for restrictions on trade deals, but not TPP specifically.

Harris was the Clinton campaign's most vocal critic when Republican nominee Donald Trump proposed a series of policies on paid maternity leave and deducting childcare costs. Speaking with The Washington Post, Harris criticized the plan as out of touch with modern family structures. She said, "We’re not living in a 'Mad Men' era anymore, where only women are taking care of infants. … It's just completely unserious."

Most recently, Maya served as Campaign Chairperson for her sister, Sen. Kamala Harris, during her 2020 presidential primary campaign and, during the general election, served as a national surrogate for the Biden-Harris ticket. Maya was reportedly involved in every aspect of her sister’s campaign. She helped raise money, hire campaign staff, draft policies, and helped talk up the campaign to Democratic officeholders and activists in early primary states. Harris’s work helped the campaign secure some early endorsements.

Policy Positions and Advocacy

Maya Harris has consistently advocated for progressive policies and has been a vocal voice on issues such as criminal justice reform, gender equality, and civil rights.

An advocate for criminal justice reform throughout her career, Maya was a contributing author to the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Covenant with Black America. Her 2006 essay warned that “the mass incarceration of Black people in America is a real and present danger” and argued “any solution to the growing crisis of mass Black incarceration must begin with focusing on how our communities, especially our youth, are policed.”

Harris has also spoken out on issues such as the gender wage gap, which she considers a civil rights issue.

Personal Life and Family

Maya Harris is married to Tony West, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary at Uber Technologies, Inc., and former Associate Attorney General of the United States. They have been married since July 1998. Harris has one daughter, Meena Harris, who is a lawyer, author, and founder of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign.

Public Image and Recognition

Maya Harris has been recognized for her work and influence in various publications and has been described as a brilliant and dedicated advocate. She has been referred to as the Bobby Kennedy to Kamala's Jack, highlighting her close relationship with her sister and her role as a trusted advisor.

Written Works and Media Appearances

Maya Harris has authored and contributed to numerous publications and has been a frequent commentator on television and in print. She was an on-air political and legal analyst for MSNBC and has published commentary on race, gender, and politics in numerous media outlets including The Atlantic, Women’s Health Magazine, and CNN.com.

Her written works include:

Community-Centered Policing: A Force for Change (2001)
Organized for Change: The Activist’s Guide to Police Reform (2004)
Making Every Vote Count: Reforming Felony Disenfranchisement Policies and Practices in California (2008)
Women of Color: A Growing Force in the American Electorate (2014)

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