Editor’s Note: The David Eccles School of Business is celebrating Women’s History Month by sharing the successes of women leaders who have made big impacts in the business world.

Kamala Harris recently made history after she was the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American to be elected and inaugurated Vice President of the United States. She was born on Oct. 20, 1964, to immigrant parents in Oakland, Calif. Her father, Donald Harris, was a Jamaican economist and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was an Indian cancer researcher. Her maternal grandparents have a large history of public service in India, and this deeply resonated with Harris all her life. She was raised by her single mother in a predominantly Black, lower-class neighborhood.

After completing her undergraduate degree at Howard University, she began her career in the Alameda County prosecutor’s office in Oakland, focusing on sex crimes. In 2003, she ran for San Francisco District Attorney and won, becoming the first Black woman to hold that office. Since then, Harris ran and won the race for California Attorney General and in 2017 became a senator for the state of California. In 2020, she was elected as Vice President of the United States and was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021.