US Vice President Kamala Harris has said, as she urged the members of the minority ethnic community to run in the elections increasingly.
Our Bureau
Washington
Kamala Harris, attended ‘Desis Decide’ – the annual summit of Indian American Impact in Washington, as May marks Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Indian American Impact is a democratic party think tank that supports and funds Indian Americans running for elected offices across the country.
Princeton-based entrepreneur and community leader Deepak Raj and former Kansas State Representative Raj Goyle establish the Indian American Impact Fund, an organization dedicated to building Indian American political power, investing in Indian American candidates, and enfranchising the growing Indian American electorate.
“Over the years, we’ve had so much more participation by Indian Americans in the electoral process running for office. But the numbers are still not reflective of the size of the growing population,” Harris, the first-ever Indian American, African American, and a woman to be elected as the vice president of the US, told a packed room of Indian Americans in Washington.
Addressing a ballroom of people at the Washington Marriott Georgetown, the vice president – the first South Asian American in the position – spoke about how her family helped shaped her.
Harris noted her mother came to the US from India when she was 19 and participated in civil rights marches in Berkeley, California. She went on to recount visiting India every two years growing up, where her grandfather would take her on his morning walks with his friends. “And I remember as a young girl hearing them debate the importance of democracy,” she said. “Hearing them discuss the importance of standing for what is right.”
The Indian American Impact Project’s 2024 Summit and Gala: Desis Decide is taking place on May 15th-16th in Washington, DC. It’s a 2-day event of networking, learning, celebrating, and committing to action with community leaders from across the nation.
