Kamala Harris, 38 born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley is the daughter of prominent breast cancer specialist Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, a Tamilian who move to US in 1960 and Donald Harris, a Jamaican, professor of economics at Stanford University.

Kamala Harris an Indian American attorney has been voted as San Francisco District Attorney. She would assume the office from January 8, 2004 and would be the first Indian American district attorney in the state history. Hallinan, who was first elected as the city´s top prosecutor in 1995, will be out of public office for the first time in 15 years. 

Her parents separated when Kamala was five, but she and her sister Maya Lakshmi, were brought up jointly and imbibed Indian, American and Caribbean traditions.  Both her parents were active in the civil rights movement, an influence that apparently led Kamala to Howard University, America's oldest black university, and then to Hastings College of the Law. Her sister is also an attorney.

Kamala went to Howard University, America’s oldest black university, and then to Hastings College of the Law where she  graduated in 1990. A former Deputy District Attorney in San Francisco and Alameda County, Kamala has thirteen years of courtroom experience. She currently serves as a San Francisco Deputy City Attorney, where she is Chief of the Community and Neighborhood Division.

As Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County from 1990 to 1998, Kamala prosecuted hundreds of serious and violent felonies, including homicide, rape and child sexual assault cases. Before Louise Renne recruited her to join the City Attorney’s office in August, 2000, Kamala was the Managing Attorney of the Career Criminal Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s office.

Kamala is Co-Chair of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights; President of the Board of Directors of Partners Ending Domestic Abuse; elected member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Bar Association; and founder of an SF Museum of Modern Art mentoring program which has served hundreds of young people from the inner city.

Kamala has been recognized many times for the excellence of her work. For her work on behalf of youth, Kamala received an award from Crime Victims United. In 1998, she was named by the Daily Journal as one of the top 20 young lawyers in the State of California. Most recently, she earned an award from the County Counsel Association of California for her work granting gay couples equal rights in child adoption cases.

In addition to being an outstanding, veteran prosecutor, Kamala is also a passionate community leader.  She has founded and served on the boards of some of the most successful and important community services organizations in San Francisco. 

Coalition to End the Exploitation of Kids

Kamala Harris is a founder of the Coalition to End the Exploitation of Kids (CEEK).   The Coalition exists to help end San Francisco’s epidemic of child prostitution.  There are an estimated 3,000 child prostitutes in San Francisco.   Last year, 174 minors were arrested for prostitution in the city. A CEEK survey of 7,000 high school-aged girls in San Francisco showed 20 percent had traded sex for food, shelter or clothing.  CEEK plans to open a safe house for exploited children, start a 24-hour crisis hotline and raise funds for important social services, especially those available at night.

San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center

Kamala Harris is a board member of the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center.   The Center provides a comprehensive range of direct services, including: a 24-hour hotline; a drop-in center; a safe playroom; parent and child counseling; substance abuse services; a respite care program; and an economic self-sufficiency program.  Last year in San Francisco, the Center dealt with 15,000 calls from families in crisis, served 2,000 families directly, cared for 36 kids a day at their facilities, raised safety awareness, and trained 5,000 professionals to recognize signs of abuse.

Partners Ending Domestic Abuse

Kamala Harris is President of the board of directors of Partners Ending Domestic Abuse.   Partners Ending Domestic Abuse provides fundraising, public awareness and public policy advocacy to the Domestic Violence Consortium. Partners involves San Francisco's communities, philanthropists, corporations and city officials in supporting the agencies that provide domestic violence prevention services and advocacy.

MOMA "Matches" Youth Mentoring Program

Kamala Harris is a member of the board of trustees of SF MOMA.  She has used her position on the board to create the “Matches” program, which pairs at-risk youth with mentors in order to expose them to art and broaden their horizons.  The program is the first of its kind in the United States and in its seven years it has served over 600 public school children.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

Kamala Harris is co-Chair and member of the board of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.  The committee provides legal services and education on race, immigration and poverty issues.  Last year, the Lawyers' Committee organized lawyers to donate 11,000 hours of pro bono legal assistance to impoverished Bay Area clients.

San Francisco Bar Association

Kamala Harris is a member of the SF Bar Association Board of Directors.  The Bar Association “champions equal access to justice and promotes humanity, excellence, and diversity in the legal profession.”

SF Bar Association Blue Ribbon Committee

Kamala is a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee of the SF Bar Association, which promotes women in the legal profession through the No Glass Ceiling Task Force. The taskforce has published "Breaking the Glass Ceiling Commitments," which calls on firms to promote women to partnership positions and employ men and women in equal numbers.

The San Francisco Foundation

Kamala Harris is a member of the San Francisco Foundation’s Community Leadership Awards Committee.  The Foundation is a leader in Bay Area Philanthropy, which ranks second in grant making and fifth in assets among the nation’s community foundations.   The Community Leadership Awards recognize individual or organizational excellence in leadership as demonstrated by outstanding initiative, impact of work, and inspiration of others.

The Leakey Foundation

Kamala Harris is an advisor to the Board of Trustees of The Leakey Foundation.   The mission of the Leakey Foundation is to increase scientific knowledge and public understanding of human origins and evolution.  The Leakey Foundation awards more than $600,000 in field grants annually for vital new research exploring human evolution. It is the only US funding organization wholly committed to human origins research.