Janani Ramachandran, a 30-year-old Indian-American attorney, has emerged as the youngest and the first queer woman of colour to take oath as the Oakland City Council member in the US state of California.
In an inauguration ceremony held on January 10, Ramachandran took the formal oath wearing a saree as the Oakland City Council member for District 4.
"WE WON! Honored to be the next City Councilmember for Oakland District 4!! I will officially be the youngest Council member in Oakland’s history, the 1st #LGBTQ woman of color & 1st South Asian to serve on Oakland City Council," the public interest attorney tweeted.
She took to Twitter to express her gratitude and said, "Immensely grateful for all those who believed in me and helped build our movement. Honored to have my loved ones by my side as I took the ceremonial oath!" Ramachandran describes herself as "a daughter of immigrants from a small village in South India.
According to her website, Ramachandran was a commissioner at the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission before joining the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs.
The Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley alumnus has worked in several legal non-profits.