ROHINI LAKSHMI KOSOGLU – Chief of Staff of VP Candidate Kamala Harris’ is Sri Lankan-American – By Upali Obeyesekere
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On 17 December 2018, Senator Kamala Harris made a key staffing change ahead of the holiday season in which she will be mulling a decision on a presidential run. Harris announced Rohini Kosoglu as her new chief of staff.
Kosoglu, who is in her early thirties is a second-generation Sri Lankan-American, born in New Jersey. Kosoglu received a B.A. in English with Honors from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University. She currently resides in the Washington D.C. area with her husband and three sons.
Kosoglu enters the position as the only Asian-American woman currently serving as a U.S. senator’s chief of staff — and she tells Bustle that she’s optimistic about Congress becoming more diverse in 2019. She is a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School.
It was reported at the time of Kosoglu’s appointment that the diversity amongst Harris’ staff was not matched by her Democratic colleagues even though they employ a large number of women, predominantly white.
Kosoglu’s parents’ Dr. Wijeyadevendram Ravindran and Shobhana Ravindran emigrated to the United States from Sri Lanka in the early 1980s. In 1969, W. Ravindran played cricket for S. Thomas College, Mt Lavinia and later graduated from Medical School, University of Colombo medical faculty in 1974.
Dr. Wijeyadevendram Ravindran, MD is an currently an Emergency Medicine Specialist in New Jersey and has over 46 years of experience in the medical field.
The New Jersey born and raised Kosoglu’s foray into politics began at the time she was a senior at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, when she went to work as an intern in the state office of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D.Mich.) and then when she was offered a position in D.C. had grabbed the opportunity and worked as the lawmaker’s mail room manager.
She graduated from the University of Michigan and the George Washington University and was first introduced to national politics as a mailroom manager while working for Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow.
Kosoglu worked her way up as a senior policy adviser after graduating in Sen. Stabenow’s office. She then moved to Colorado Sen. Michael Bennett’s office as his senior health care adviser meanwhile the congress was considering Obamacare or Affordable Care Act.
After seven years in Bennett’s office, Kosoglu got an offer from Harris, then a senator-elect, to work as deputy chief of staff.
Excerpts of an article that appeared in “Bustle” on 17 Dec. 2018.
“As a woman of color in this position, I think it’s important to create a pipeline of talent,” Kosoglu says, adding that diversity is an issue that Harris also “feels is important.”
Kosoglu’s promotion from deputy chief of staff reflects a diversity among Harris’ staffers that isn’t matched by all her Democratic colleagues. And the numbers bear that out. According to a 2017 report released by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, most senators from the party employ women staffers, but an overwhelming number of staffers are white. At the time that report was released, Harris’ office employed the second-highest number of people of color, behind only Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz’s office. The newly minted chief of staff tells Bustle that it’s important for lawmakers and senior congressional staff to reflect the demographics of the country.
“I think it’s important that when we advance diversity [in Congress], we also advance the ability to address many issues in front of us,” Kosoglu says. “Our staff reflects California — the makeup of California, as well as the country.”
Kosoglu, who attended the University of Michigan and The George Washington University, got her first taste of national politics as a mailroom manager for Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) after she graduated. She worked her way up in Stabenow’s office to senior policy adviser, then moved on to Sen. Michael Bennett’s (D-Colo.) office as his senior health care adviser while Congress crafted and passed Obamacare. After seven years with Bennett’s office, Kosoglu got an offer from Harris, then a senator-elect, to work as deputy chief of staff.
“I jumped at that chance to help her and the people of California get this office up and running,” Kosoglu says.
Now, Kosoglu says that part of her job as chief of staff will be to keep the senator’s door open to young people, and show that that “this is the job that they can have. This is the job that they can see themselves in.”
