Who Is Kamala Harris’ Politico Sister, Maya Harris?

On the final day of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22 in Chicago, Kamala Harris’ sister, Maya Harris took to the stage to give an inspiring speech.

Maya began her speech by talking about the relationship between them and their late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. She noted how proud their mother would be to see Kamala as the Democratic Party nominee.

“I could just see her smiling saying how proud she is of Kamala…And then, without missing a beat, she’d say, ‘That’s enough. You have work to do.'”

Maya said, “She raised us to believe that we could be and do anything, and we believed her,” Maya said. “You see, Mommy understood the power and the possibility that come with knowing and showing who you truly are.”

Kamala and Maya Harris’ parents, Donald Harris and Shyamala Gopalan met in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley.

Donald originally from Jamaica and Gopalan from India, the couple married and welcomed Kamala in 1964 and Maya three years later in 1967. When Donald and Gopalan divorced, the Harris sisters moved with their mother from Northern California to Montreal.

Both daughters followed similar paths, as Maya earned a law degree from Stanford University and served as a senior policy adviser for Hillary Clinton‘s 2016 presidential campaign. Maya also chaired her sister’s 2020 presidential campaign and she has held positions at the Ford Foundation and focused on democracy, rights, and justice.

A visiting scholar at Harvard Law School, Maya also spent time as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and served as the executive director of the ACLU of Northern California.