Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is one of the leading progressive voices in American politics. First elected to represent Washington State’s 7th District in 2016, she served as chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The first South Asian American woman elected to the House and one of only two dozen naturalized citizens currently serving in the United States Congress, she serves on the Judiciary and Budget committees.
Prior to serving in elected office, Pramila spent 20 years working on international and domestic global public health and development and as an award-winning national advocate for women’s, immigrant, civil and human rights. She was founder and executive director of OneAmerica, the largest immigrant advocacy organization in Washington State and one of the largest in the country.
Born in India, she grew up in India, Indonesia and Singapore, and she came to the United States by herself at age 16 to attend college at Georgetown University. She later received her MBA from Northwestern University, worked in a number of industries in both the public and private sectors and published her first book in 2000, soon after her ICWA fellowship, Pilgrimage to India: A Woman Revisits Her Homeland. Her second book is Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change.