Meena Harris

Meena Ashley Harris (born October 20, 1984[1][2]) is an American lawyer, children's book author, and founder of the "Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign".[3] 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.[4]

Meena Harris
Born
Meena Ashley Harris

(1984-10-20) October 20, 1984
Oakland, California, U.S.
EducationStanford University (BA)
Harvard Law School (JD)
Spouse(s)Nikolas Ajagu
Children2
Parent(s)
Relatives

Early life and education

Born in Oakland, California, Harris grew up in the Bay Area. Her mother, Maya Harris, is a lawyer and policy expert and her aunt, Kamala Harris, serves as a United States Senator from California. Her grandmother, Shyamala Gopalan, was an Indian-American cancer researcher and civil rights activist and her grandfather, Donald Harris, was a Jamaican-American professor of economics at Stanford and civil rights activist.[5]

Harris received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 2006, and her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 2012.[6]

Career

Harris is the founder of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, founded in 2017 as an organization that brings awareness to social causes.[3] The campaign covers a range of policy issues, including educational excellence and healthcare equity, criminal justice reform, gender parity in STEM, reproductive health, and political representation.[7] Ambassadors for the campaign include Serena Williams, Jessica Alba, Mark Ruffalo, Tracee Ellis Ross, Viola Davis, Yara Shahidi, Janelle Monae, Sarah Silverman, Debbie Allen, Rosario Dawson, Van Jones, Lizzo, Cecile Richards, and more. In September 2018, Harris also coordinated a full-page ad in the New York Times with Alicia Garza, founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, to demonstrate national support for Christine Blasey Ford and survivors of sexual assault.[8]

In 2020, Harris released her first children's book from HarperCollins entitled Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, which is based on the real story of her mother, Maya Harris and aunt Kamala Harris.[4]

Previously, Harris also served as Head of Strategy & Leadership at Uber,[9] and worked for international law firm Covington & Burling, Slack Technologies, and Facebook.

During Kamala Harris's successful 2016 campaign for the U.S. Senate, Harris served as a senior advisor on policy and communications. From 2016 to 2017, Harris served as a commissioner on the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women.[10]

Personal life

Harris is married to Nikolas Ajagu. They have two daughters.[11]

Bibliography
  • Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea. HarperCollins. 2020. ISBN 9780062937407.

References
  1. Labong, Leilani Marie (July 3, 2020). "How Bay Area activists keep the flames of their passion for change burning bright". San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. @meenaharris (October 20, 2019). "Love sharing a birthday with you @kamalaharris. October 20, and exactly 20 years apart!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "Kamala Harris' niece wants to inspire the next generation of social activists". www.businessinsider.com.
  4. "Meena Harris". www.harpercollins.com.
  5. "Donald Harris, Kamala Harris's Dad, Is a Renowned Stanford Professor". www.yahoo.com.
  6. "Meena Harris '12". Harvard Law Today.
  7. "How to change the world, a five step guide". www.vogue.com.au.
  8. "Your Beliefs Here: A Look at Advocacy Advertising in The Times". www.newyorktimes.com.
  9. "Corporate Change: Meena". www.uber.com.
  10. "It's Black Women's Equal Pay Day. No Matter Who You Are, That Should Matter to You". www.glamour.com.
  11. Bose, Debanjali (August 13, 2020). "Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's VP pick, comes from a family of lawyers and Stanford graduates. Meet the family". Business Insider. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
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