“Mindfulness in a growing multicultural world” within the theme of Intentional Living.
HARINI KRISHNAN
Harini Krishnan is an Indian American Democratic Organizer who is passionate about Gender Equity, Civil Rights, Public Education and Arts, and in particular, about electing more women and women of color to all levels of office.
A former Lead Volunteer Organizer for the Presidential Campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris in California in 2019, Harini co-founded NorCal Joyful Warriors for Joe and Kamala in early 2020, was elected as a Biden Delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and was featured in several videos at the historic convention. Harini was also a founding member of Kamala Harris For the People South Asian Finance Council, and a member of the National Finance Committee of both VP Harris and President Biden's Presidential Campaigns.
Harini joined South Asians for Biden (SAB) as the National Grassroots Organizing Lead and California State Director in June 2020 and is excited to join SAFA as Chair of Community Organizing Campaigns & Training.
In addition to her involvement with Presidential campaigns, Harini is an elected Assembly District 22 Delegate and appointed Platform Committee Member of the California Democratic Party; a San Mateo County Democrats Central Committee Alternate and Co-Chair of Events & Fundraising committee; a Board Member of Fund Her, which elects progressive women to state legislatures nationwide; Board Member of Equal Access International, an International NGO which combines media programming with community mobilization to address gender inequities and increase civic engagement; Vice-Chair of the San Mateo County Arts Commission; and a well-known Indian Classical Vocalist and Lecturer for the past 2 decades.
In 2019, Harini was fortunate to learn from the social justice organizing legend Marshall Ganz, Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing and Civil Society at Harvard Kennedy School, who participated in the Mississippi Summer Project, and worked with Cesar Chavez & the United Farmworkers movement in the 1960s. Professor Ganz is also credited with devising the successful grassroots organizing model and training for Barack Obama's winning 2008 presidential campaign. Harini was fortunate to complete coursework in “Leadership, Organizing & Action” and in “Public Narrative: Leadership, Storytelling and Action” taught by Professor Ganz.
A resident of the Town of Hillsborough in Northern California for more than 2 decades, Harini is the recipient of the 2020 Hillsborough Citizen of the Year Award, 2018 Jefferson Award for Public Service, and the 2021 Trailblazer Award from the California Democratic Party API Caucus.
Harini holds a Bachelor's in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), a Masters's Degree in International Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), and is currently enrolled in the Harvard Kennedy School's Public Leadership Program.
Harini is the proud daughter of trailblazer Annapurna Krishnan, the first South Indian woman to climb the third highest mountain in the world, Peak Kanchenjunga, at age 16 in the 1960s in India, and receive the title “Malai Eriya Mangai” (the young woman who climbed the mountain) upon her return to her hometown of Chennai.
Harini and her husband Vikas are the proud parents of Janani, a recent Harvard College graduate, musician, and rising Harvard Law student, and Abhaya, a rising senior at USC pursuing Computer Science and music, and enjoy travel with their daughters as a much-needed break from their empty-nester routines.
#demograticleader #trailblazer #harinikrishnan
