- Pritzker Fellows
- Current Fellows
- Opal Vadhan
Opal Vadhan
Former Senior Advisor to Vice President Harris
Biography
Opal Vadhan is a distinguished public servant and trusted advisor who has worked at the highest levels of American political leadership. She is a former Senior Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris and previously spent five years supporting Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton. Over the past decade, Vadhan has played a central behind-the-scenes role, known for her empathy, leadership, and ability to make others feel seen and heard.
Vadhan began her career on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign as a member of the national advance team. Following the campaign, she continued with Secretary Clinton as her Executive Assistant and Trip Director from 2017 to 2021. During that time, she was also a collaborator on The Book of Gutsy Women, the New York Times bestselling book by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.
In 2021, she joined the Biden-Harris administration as Special Assistant to the President and Personal Aide to Vice President Harris, supporting the Vice President throughout the administration and the historic 107-day presidential campaign.
A first-generation Indian American raised in Queens, New York, Vadhan earned a dual degree in Communications and Women & Gender Studies from Pace University in 2015. Her experience working in high-trust support roles for the only two women to receive the Democratic nomination for President offers rare insight into executive leadership, diplomacy, and the essential role of operational professionals in public service.
Beyond serving in government, Vadhan has a strong commitment to service. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked full-time with World Central Kitchen, helping deliver more than eight million meals to New Yorkers in need. And she is the recipient of the Luminary Award from She’s the First, a non-profit supporting girls education in underserved communities.
Seminars
"Every Second Counts: Behind the Scenes from Presidential Campaigns to the West Wing & All the Roads Between"
Public service is rarely a straight line. It is a journey shaped by purpose, opportunity, resilience and the people who open doors along the way. In these seminars, I will draw on my own path - from being a first-generation American who had never voted to working on presidential campaigns, supporting the only two women Democratic nominees for president and ultimately serving at the White House. We will go behind the scenes of what it really means to work on campaigns and in government, the highs of highs and lows of lows. We will explore what it is really like to be in a bubble (spoiler: not as people on the outside who think they know but have no idea). We will discuss discovering your motivation to serve, landing your first job and navigating the pressures of national politics. I will give you the inside look at debate prep, how conventions work and the scoop on campaign logistics and messaging. What is it like to serve trailblazing leaders under intense scrutiny on a daily basis? We will examine that deeply human side of public service: the sacrifices, tears and incalculable joys of experiencing once in a lifetime moments.