Lanka’s Rohini chief of staff to prospective US presidential candidate
Senator Kamala Harris (Democrat - California) has named a new Chief of Staff as she prepares to make a decision on a presidential run over the holidays. Rohini Kosoglu has assumed the helm in Senator Harris’ Washington DC office, where she has served as the Senator’s Deputy Chief of Staff since 2017. The promotion makes Ms. Kosoglu the only Asian American woman currently serving as a Chief of Staff to a Senator.
Ms. Kosoglu, daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants, is a legislative and policy expert with more than a decade of Senate experience.
She began her political career as a mailroom manager for Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). After working her way up to Senior Policy Advisor, she then moved on to Senator Michael Bennett's (Democrat -Colorado) office as his Senior Health Care Advisor. During her time in the Senate administration, she has managed legislative activity involving landmark laws, including the Affordable Care Act.
The University of Michigan graduate, who earned her Master’s from George Washington University, said part of her job as Chief of Staff would be to keep the Senator's door open to young people and show that "this is the job that they can have. This is the job that they can see themselves in." In an interview with Roll Call, earlier this year, she said, “I definitely try to prioritise if any women, particularly women of colour ... just want to meet to talk about how to move up on the Hill or whether they’re interested in working on the Hill.”
Meanwhile, Senator Harris has two books coming out next year and is expected to kick off her highly anticipated presidential campaign next month.