Kiran Arjandas Ahuja (born June 17, 1971)
is an American attorney and activist serving as the director of the
United States Office of Personnel Management
The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that manages the US civilian service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight and support, and tends t ...
(OPM). She served as the chief of staff to the OPM director from 2015 to 2017.
[LinkedIn Profile](_blank)
/ref> She assumed that position after serving for six years as the director of the . An Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
-born American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
, she has also been a lawyer with the United States Department of Justice and a founding director of a non-profit, the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. In 2017, she became the CEO of Philanthropy Northwest.
Ahuja's nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
on June 22, 2021, by a vote of 51–50, with Vice President Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
breaking the tie. She was sworn in on June 24, 2021.
Early life and education
Ahuja was raised in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
and she and her family were immigrants from India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. She started college at Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
, but quickly transferred to Spelman College
Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman re ...
and then went on to the University of Georgia School of Law
The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law sc ...
, earning her Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree in 1998.
Career
After school, she went to work for the Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
. Ahuja later recalled that she found the pace of the DOJ to be too slow for her and left to create change through non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
work.
Ahuja was the founding executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF). She worked there from 2003 to 2008, during which time she turned the NAPAWF from a volunteer organization, to one with paid staff.
Ahuja was appointed as the executive director of the (AAPI) on December 14, 2009. In this capacity, she has continued to work towards helping Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) access services from the United States federal government. Her work has included increasing health care for AAPI and also inter-agency cooperation between WAAPI and the Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
to "address exposure to health toxins by nail salon workers," many of whom are Asian American. Other initiatives have been public to private, such as translating essential information about the Gulf Oil Spill for AAPI individuals still struggling with understanding English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. Ahuja has also shared her own experiences, helping to "destigmatize depression and suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
when she opened up about her brother's suicide." ''Reappropriate'' stated that it was an important step towards ending "the stigma against mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders''.''
On June 6, 2014, Kiran Ahuja, as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, honored Yuri Kochiyama
was an American civil rights activist. Influenced by her Japanese-American family's experience in an American internment camp, her association with Malcolm X, and her Maoist beliefs, she advocated for many causes, including black separatism, t ...
, on the White House website for dedicating "her life to the pursuit of social justice, not only for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community but all communities of color."
She is also a regular contributor to ''HuffPost
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''.
Biden administration
In November 2020, Ahuja was named a member of the Joe Biden presidential transition
The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...
Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the Office of Personnel Management
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...
. On February 23, 2021, President Biden nominated Ahuja to the position of OPM Director. She was confirmed to the position on June 22, 2021 by a Senate vote of 51–50, with Vice President Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
casting the tie-breaking vote. Republican senators were opposed to Ahuja's statement in June 2020 following the murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
. Ahuja wrote, "You can’t be a true ally to Black communities until you take it upon yourself to understand our racialized history in its most intimate and heinous forms...and learn, as I did, that all forms of discrimination flow from the subjugation of Black and Indigenous people."
References
External links
*
Kiran Ahuja on Debunking the Model Minority Myth for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
(video)
Office of Personnel Management bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahuja, Kiran
1971 births
American politicians of Indian descent
Living people
Directors of the United States Office of Personnel Management
Obama administration personnel
Biden administration personnel
People from Savannah, Georgia
Spelman College alumni
University of Georgia School of Law alumni