Dubbed a “Champion for Change” by the White House, United States Representative Pramila Jayapal is currently serving her third term in Congress representing Washington’s 7th District. She represents most of Seattle as well as some suburban areas of King County. She was elected in 2016 and is the first Indian-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the district’s first female member of Congress. Her term is scheduled to run until January of 2023.
Since 2017, Jayapal has served on several committees, including the House Judiciary Committee, where she serves as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, and Labor and Budget Committees. Her caucus memberships include the Immigration Task Force for the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and serving as Vice-Chair of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus, for which she is the Co-Chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force.
Jayapal was born in Chennai, India, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1982 at the age of 16 to attend college. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University. She was a financial analyst for an investment bank and stock brokerage firm before embarking on her social justice career in 1991.
She spent the next 20 years working in global public health and development and as an advocate for women’s, immigrants’, civil, and human rights. Jayapal founded and served as Executive Director of the organization Hate Free Zone, now known as OneAmerica, after the September 11 attacks. The organization registers new American citizens to vote and lobbies for immigration reform.
After being elected to the House of Representatives, Jayapal focused on health care issues as the lead sponsor of the Medicare for All bill, as well as authoring the College for All Act, which would ensure every American has access to higher education. Other progressive legislation pieces she has authored include the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, the Housing is a Human Right Act, and the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.