Meet Krishanti Vignarajah, The Maryland Governor Post Hopeful

In the last week of July this year, Krishanti Vignarajah, former first lady Michelle Obama’s ex- aide and the brain behind the ‘Let Girls Learn initiative’, hinted upon running for the Maryland governor’s post. Vignarajah, 37, who worked for Obama for about two years, will be joining a crowded field of Democratic candidates running for the post.

“A number of folks have encouraged me to run, and I’m seriously considering it,” Washington Post quoted Vignarajah as saying in a text message. She declined to comment further, the publication reported.

Early Life

Vignarajah is one of the few women who broke the glass ceiling to be chosen for crucial projects at White House and created an impact through her work.

As a young girl she came to America with her parents and brother, escaping from the growing violence in Sri Lanka. Her parents, who were teachers, instilled the importance of education in her.

“For me, like for so many women and girls around the world, education was the springboard – the eye-opening, world-expanding fairy dust that gave me a chance to realize my potential,” Vignarajah had said in one of her previous interviews.

In the later years she attended Yale College to earn a Master’s degree in Political Science and a B.S. in Molecular Biology. She also got an M.Phil. in International Relations at Oxford University, and worked at management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. before joining Yale once again to take a degree in Law. Vignarajah practised law at Jenner & Block in Washington before joining the State Department as a senior advisor under Secretary Kerry and Secretary Clinton.

‘Let Girls Learn initiative’

At the State Department she helped shape up the initiatives on programmes related to the United Nations. She played a key role in framing US development strategies and defining policies concerning health, food security, climate change, public diplomacy and the legal dimensions of US foreign policy in regional issues relating to Africa and the Middle East.

Vignarajah is known for her work on ‘Let Girls Learn initiative’, which was aimed to help girls around the world receive quality education, ‘that empowers them to reach their full potential’.

“Mrs. Obama had been really quite moved by the Boko Haram kidnapping of over 200 girls in Nigeria. So she raised the question of what could we do to address this heartbreaking situation of girls getting kidnapped simply for going to school. So, I basically tried to figure out how could we address the issue of girls’ education, in a real and enduring way,” she said during an interview to Baltimore Magazine.

Vignarajah’s ideation around the ‘Let Girls Learn’ took the initiative to over 50 countries. The campaign created a buzz on social media and ended up as the number one trend on Twitter in America and number three in the international trends. Many politicians celebrities, including David Cameron, Prince Harry and Beyoncé, supported the cause. She is now active in ensuring that the initiative is not put on hold or diluted by the Trump administration.

Her Current Role

Vignarajah has worked on several initiatives to engage with the youth and religious communities and encourage entrepreneurship. She is the founder and chief operating officer of Generation Impact, a policy firm that specialises in developing strategies for companies and non-profit organisations.

It is believed that Democrats took notice of her after she gave the keynote speech at a summit of Democrats in Western Maryland this spring.