Kamala Harris, the Vice President-elect of the US, despite making history, isn't the only Indian-origin woman to join the new Biden administration in 2021. Kundapur origin, Mala Adiga, 47, has been appointed as policy director to Joe Biden's wife, Jill Biden.
The Indian district went into celebrations after the news of Adiga's appointment broke out recently. Mala Adiga has roots in Kakkunje village in Kundapur taluk of Udipi district. She belongs to the family of K Suryanarayana Adiga, founder of the erstwhile undivided Dakshina Kannada districts private sector Karnataka Bank Limited, and Aravind Adiga, who won the Man Booker prize in 2008. She is also the niece of Nirmala Upadhya who is her father's elder sister.
Adiga's father Dr Ramesh Adiga had left India when he was 25 years old. He went to the US to hone his skills as a vascular surgeon. Her mother, Jaya Adiga, had studied medicine in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. Adiga was also born in the US, but she has deep-rooted feelings for India. As for her Indian connections, she earlier came to Bengaluru, India with her husband Charles and daughter Asha to attend a function and seven years ago, visited Udipi falling in love with the beaches and the countryside.
Adiga graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A (Bachelor of Arts) degree in Spanish. She holds the MPH (Master of Public Health) degree from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She also earned her J D (Juris Doctor) degree from the University of Chicago Law School.
Starting her career as a clerk for a federal firm, Adiga went on to become an attorney at the Department of Justice, where she served as Counsel to the Associate Attorney General. She was also the director for human rights on the National Security Staff’s (NSS) Multilateral and Human Rights Directorate.
She also worked as Chief of Staff in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues and as senior advisor to the Ambassador-at-Large. Adiga was appointed as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Academic Programs at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs during President Obama's administration after being a part of the presidential campaign in 2008. As for her links with the Bidens, she worked extensively as a senior policy advisor to them during their recent election campaign.
Having worked in the education arena with Obama, Adiga is just the right fit for the upcoming first lady's plans on education policies. With Jill Biden's focus set on education and military families much like former first lady, Michelle Obama, Adiga can provide her with the required support even if Jill decides to continue teaching community college.
