Born in Chennai, India in 1965, Jayapal grew up in India, Indonesia, and Singapore. At the age of 16, she came to the US to attend college, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English and Economics from Georgetown University. Afterwards, she earned her MBA from Northwestern University. Jayapal initially worked as a Wall Street financial analyst after college, but her experience of being an immigrant drew her to community organizing.
Jayapal, who had just become a naturalized citizen at the time, realized America’s perception and treatment of migrants would drastically change following the September 11 attacks of 2001. In its aftermath, immigrants of color – particularly Muslim and Sikh community members – experienced government targeting and hate crimes. In response to the xenophobia, Pramila Jayapal founded OneAmerica (formerly known as Hate Free Zone) in 2001.
One of OneAmerica’s many accomplishments was when they won a ruling that determined that the Bush Administration’s deportations of Somali immigrants were illegal in 2003. Jayapal organized the pro bono legal efforts, and this ruling prevented the deportation of more than 2,700 people around the US. With OneAmerica, Jayapal also launched the largest voter registration drive in Washington state history in 2008 – over 23,000 people! --READ MORE