Who is Nithya Raman, and her journey from Keralam to Los Angeles

Nithya Raman, newly elected Mayor of Los Angeles city in the U.S., has her roots in Keralam and a record of piloting effective civic activism in multiple Indian cities. Among the many Indian-origin candidates making waves in this election season in the U.S., Ms. Raman defeated incumbent Mayor Karen Bass to take charge of the second most populous city in the U.S. after New York. The 45-year-old is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

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Nithya Raman’s early years in Keralam, education

Born in Keralam, Ms. Raman spent the early years of her life between Thiruvananthapuram, her father Venkataraman’s hometown, and Thrissur, from where her mother, Sudha, hails. Her father, who used to work for Keltron, and mother, a former employee of Indian Overseas Bank, migrated to the U.S. for better opportunities when Nithya was six years old.

She graduated in Social Studies from Harvard University in 2003, followed by a master’s degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ms. Raman, who became a U.S. citizen at the age of 22, later spent a few years in India, especially in Chennai, where she led Transparent Chennai, which sought to achieve better sanitation in slum areas through data-driven programmes. She was also part of protests against the eviction of slum dwellers in Delhi.

Political journey

After returning to the U.S. in 2013, she worked in the city administrative office and became an activist in the fight against homelessness. In 2019, she plunged into politics by announcing her candidacy to the Los Angeles City Council.

Her grassroots campaign, centring on homelessness and environmental issues, using a wide network of volunteers, paid off as she got elected to the City Council in 2020. Her Mayoral campaign focused on making more affordable homes in Los Angeles, improving city services and fixing Los Angeles’s movie business.

Los Angeles mayor

In a closely fought race for Los Angeles mayor, Ms. Raman defeated incumbent ⁠Karen Bass. A one-time ally of Ms. Bass, Ms. Raman stunned the political establishment in America’s second-largest city when she challenged the ⁠mayor. She is the first Los Angeles mayoral candidate to defeat ⁠an incumbent since 2005.

In a video statement thanking voters and campaign volunteers, Ms. Raman vowed to “build housing that people can afford, parks for our children to play in, a transit system that can get people where they need to go, and a city that is safe for its working people and its families.” The issue of homelessness played a major role in her campaign.

(With inputs from Reuters)