We did it, Joe!
These powerful words uttered on the 7th day of November, 2020, marked the beginning of Kamala Harris’ journey to becoming the United State of America’s first female vice president, as well as the first person of colour to become vice president of America. So many firsts for this powerful woman, whose emergence as vice president goes to prove that women and girls can achieve anything they set their hearts to.
Kamala Harris was born to a Jamaican Father and an Indian mother. Her Father is a Stanford University professor emeritus of Economics and her mother was a biologist whose work on the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast cancer research (talk about a STEM Belle!). Kamala studied political science and economics at Howard University, a historically black university in the United States, and attended law school at the University of California.
Through grit and determination, Kamala rose through the ranks of her public service career to become district attorney in 2004. In 2010, she was elected as the Attorney General of California, making her the first female and the first African American to hold this position. In 2017, she was elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first Indian American in the senate and the second black woman. A very ambitious woman, in 2020, she announced her intention to run for the presidency of the United States on the Democratic party’s nomination. Even though she later dropped out of the race, she was subsequently chosen by Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate. And on January 20, 2021, she was sworn in as the first female vice president of the United States.
Kamala Harris’s emergence as first female vice president of the United States is a pointer to the immense possibilities of girl child education. Evidently, without an education, Mrs Harris wouldn’t have been able to attain the heights she has attained. Kamala herself has been a proponent of education, particularly advocating for an increase in teachers’ pay, so they can continue to deliver quality. In 2020, she tweeted ‘It isn’t enough to just say our teachers shape the future of our country, we should pay them like it. It’s past time we value and respect their work, compassion and dedication to our kids.’
The world over, millions of girls are out-of-school. According to UNICEF, around the world, 132million girls are out of school. In Nigeria, about 3.85 million girls are not in school. Girl child education however has enormous gains. UNICEF reports that girls’ education strengthens economies and reduces inequality. It also contributes to more stable, resilient societies that give all individuals – including boys and men- the opportunity to fulfil their potentials. Indeed, when you train a girl child or a woman, you train an entire nation.
At the STEM Belle, we are passionately committed to ensuring that girls get the kind of education they need to not only survive, but to thrive. We seek to continue to raise the pedestal for more girls and women to climb to the peak of their careers!