Harris began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office—working there from 1990 to 1998—and specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases. That commitment to young people continued when she established the Bureau of Children’s Justice in 2015 as California’s attorney generalIn addition to penning two books (Smart on Crime and The Truths We Hold), Harris wrote an empowering story for kids called Superheroes Are Everywhere. The 2019 illustrated work details her own search for superheroes and the realization that brave and great deeds are performed by everyday people.Harris lives by a piece of advice from her mother: “You may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last.” During her acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination, she recognized other women’s achievements throughout history: “I reflect on their struggle, their determination, and the strength of their vision to see what can be, unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders.”Harris called out her birth at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland during that same speech, and has referenced her experience being bussed to Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley (she is included in a mural depicting notable women at the school). Harris even came back to her birthplace in 2019 to kick off her presidential run at Oakland’s Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Said friend and Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf, “Nobody fights like Kamala. No one gets to the truth … drills down like she does. I just could not be more thrilled and proud because she’s from Oakland.”