Kerala-born Nithya Raman becomes Los Angeles Mayor

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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 US, 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.

Born in Keralam, she spent the early years of her life between Thiruvananthapuram, her father Venkataraman’s native city, and Thrissur, her mother Sudha’s native place. 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 got her U.S. citizenship at the age of 22 later spent a few years in India, especially in Chennai, where she helmed Transparent Chennai which pushed the government to ensure better sanitation in slum areas through data-driven programmes. She was also part of protests against eviction of slum dwellers in Delhi.

After returning to the U.S. in 2013, she worked in the city administrative office as well as took part in activism to address homelessness. In 2019, she took the political plunge by announcing her candidacy to the Los Angeles City Council. The grassroots campaign centering 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. 

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