Kesha Ram Hinsdale (born August 2, 1986) is an American activist and politician who is the majority leader of the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator repre ...

. She served in the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

from 2009 to 2016, representing the Chittenden 6-4 District (numbered Chittenden 3-4 before 2012), which encompasses the Hill Section of Burlington and the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

. In her early career, Ram was the youngest member of the House of Representatives and the youngest state legislator in the country. She is the youngest

Indian American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the United States, who ar ...

to ever serve in state elected office. In 2016, Ram finished third in the Democratic primary for

lieutenant governor of Vermont The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the Governor of Vermont, governor. The Vermont lieutenant governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the governor is out of state o ...

. In 2020, Ram finished second in the Democratic primary race for the six at-large State Senate seats from Chittenden County. In the November general election, she was one of five Democrats elected to the State Senate, along with one Progressive. She is a great-great-granddaughter of Sir Ganga Ram.

Early life and education

Born to a Jewish mother and Hindu father, Ram grew up in Los Angeles, California, where her parents ran an Irish pub. Sir Ganga Ram, her great-great-grandfather, was a supervising engineer and philanthropist in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and her aunt is Shreela Flather, a life peer in the

British House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world, its origi ...

. She graduated from

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to Samohi or SMHS, is a public high school in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Bo ...

in 2004. After graduating, she moved from California to Vermont to attend the

, where she graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in natural resource planning and a Bachelor of Arts in political science. She was awarded a

Truman Scholarship The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is a graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic excellence ...

. While at the University of Vermont she served as student body president. Her first elected position was as Student Council President in fifth grade. Ram earned a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

from the

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

in 2018.

Career

She has served as the legal director for Women Helping Battered Women (now known as Steps to End Domestic Violence). Much of her work has centered on advocacy for

people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

and

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

in Vermont. She served as the public engagement specialist for the Burlington Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) and interim director for Organizational Development at the Center for Whole Communities. She is a board member of the Center for Whole Communities, Emerge Vermont, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

Vermont Legislature

Elected to the state House of Representatives at age 22 to represent the University District and Hill Section of Burlington, she represented the district from 2009 to 2016. She served as Clerk of the House General, Housing, and Affairs Committee from 2009 to 2011. She served as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee from 2011 to 2015. She served as the Vice Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee from 2015 to 2016. She led efforts to establish

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

tribal recognition, to create driver's privilege cards available to undocumented immigrants, to criminalize

revenge porn Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material ma ...

and stalking, to establish energy siting standards, and to expand first-time homeownership tax credits. On October 11, 2015, Ram announced her candidacy for

. The incumbent, Republican

Phil Scott Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman, and Stock car racing, stock car racer who has been the List of governors of Vermont, 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party (United S ...

, had earlier announced that he would run for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. On October 26, 2015, Ram held a campaign kickoff in Burlington that was attended by many House colleagues and former governor

Madeleine Kunin Madeleine Kunin (née May; born September 28, 1933) is a Swiss-born American diplomat, author and politician. She served as the 77th governor of Vermont from 1985 until 1991, as a member of the Democratic Party. She also served as United Stat ...

. She was endorsed by U.S. Representatives

Ami Bera Amerish Babulal "Ami" Bera ( ; born March 2, 1965) is an American physician and politician who has been serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party and repr ...

and Annie McLane Kuster, as well as Democracy for America. She came in third in the primary, behind

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

Speaker

Shap Smith Shapleigh "Shap" Smith, Jr. (born December 16, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 92nd Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives. In August 2015 Smith announced his candidacy for the 2016 Democratic nomination for Governor ...

and the winner, Senator David Zuckerman. In 2020, Ram ran for the

. In the primary, she finished second in the contest for the six at-large seats from Chittenden County. In the November general election, she finished third, and was one of five Democrats elected to the State Senate, along with one Progressive. In 2022, Ram won reelection to the Vermont Senate. In 2024 she was elected Vermont Senate majority leader.

2022 U.S. House of Representatives campaign

In January 2022, Ram Hinsdale announced her intention to run for the Democratic nomination in the 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont, competing for the seat vacated by

Peter Welch Peter Francis Welch (born May 2, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2023 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party (Unit ...

. However, in May 2022, she withdrew from the race and instead endorsed

Becca Balint Rebecca A. Balint ( ; born May 4, 1968) is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. ...

, the

president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate The president ''pro tempore'' of the Vermont Senate presides over the Senate of the U.S. state of Vermont in the absence of the lieutenant governor. The president ''pro tempore'' also sets the policy priorities and legislative agenda for the Senate ...

Personal life

In August 2021, Kesha Ram married Jacob Hinsdale, the member of a prominent Vermont property management and real estate development family, where he serves as one of the firm's executives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Kesha 1986 births 2020 United States presidential electors 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Vermont General Assembly Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators Asian-American people in Vermont politics California politicians of Indian descent Candidates in the 2016 United States elections Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Democratic Party Vermont state senators Harvard Kennedy School alumni Jewish state legislators in Vermont Living people Politicians from Santa Monica, California Politicians from Los Angeles University of Vermont alumni Women state legislators in Vermont