Krishanti Vignarajah was 8 1/2 months pregnant when she gave the commencement address at Hood College this past May. In her speech — which did not end abruptly with her water breaking on the stage — she gave a stirring call to action to the new graduates. “Unleashing the promise of women,” Vignarajah said, “advances the interests of us all.”

The 37-year-old Baltimore native has long promoted gender equality. She worked in the State Department as a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and most recently served as Michelle Obama’s policy director in the White House. There, she spearheaded the former first lady’s signature initiative Let Girls Learn, which helps give girls in developing countries opportunities for education.

Now that she’s given birth — her daughter, Alana, is just shy of two months old — Vignarajah is taking her fight for women’s advancement to another venue. Earlier this month, she announced her candidacy for governor of Maryland, her home state. Her campaign for the Democratic nomination is focused on a promise to revitalize the state’s economy and education system, as well as making the environment “the pride and joy for generations to come.” But her campaign is also about being a woman, a mom, and an immigrant in the age of Trump.

I want to start with President Donald Trump’s shocking statements Tuesday. In a wild press conference, the president equated the white supremacists in Charlottesville with the people protesting that ideology. What’s your reaction to that?

Yeah, I mean, it is shocking. And, like so many others, the last few days have left me both heartbroken and furious. Obviously, it started with what happened in Charlottesville. But then to see this administration and this president's failure to show leadership and moral integrity — it’s really inexcusable. Part of why it hurts so much is because I know the America that we all know and love doesn't tolerate white supremacy or Nazi rhetoric, and we call it out for what it is. And I think that we’ve seen some of the best of America and the worst of America in the last few days. The best was the counterprotesters in Charlottesville showed us, really and truly, the American spirit. And, of course, we also saw the face of hate and bigotry. … We need to have a White House and a president showing leadership.

The city of Baltimore, where you grew up, removed several Confederate statues Tuesday night. What do you think of that action? Do you think taking down all Confederate monuments around the country will help heal racial tensions?

I did applaud the city council’s unanimous decision, and the mayor’s concern for safety, because obviously those are critical considerations we should all be taking into account as we take action. But the truth is, I wish that hauling these four monuments off ... were enough to bury racism. But the sad reality is that it’s only a partial measure. These events set off and accelerate important conversations that we need to be having, but it’s got to be more than symbolism. It’s got to be about policy. It's got to be about affording opportunity to races and constituencies that have been previously subjugated. That’s where I'm hopeful that we learn from these incidents and we grow as a community to create a better future.

What would you do to get beyond symbolism, to ease these tensions?

It’s a question of, how do we build a better society where people view one another as neighbors, but also as part of a community and a family? And for me, that’s about creating opportunity. Whether that is economic, whether that is through education, whether that is through social justice. And so that's where my focus has been and always will be: about creating a holistic approach, to give everyone a chance to succeed in society. And that's where I think our conversations need to evolve.

You and your family fled Sri Lanka when you were just 9 months old, as the country descended into civil war. After Charlottesville and the president’s fanning the flames of racial tension, is the U.S. on the brink of a kind of civil war?

I always try to avoid labels that I realize have deep and divisive meaning. I do worry about President Trump and the rhetoric that he’s using, and the direction we're headed in. Because, I’ll be honest, one of the questions that gnaws [at] me, given my personal story, is what if instead of coming to this country in 1980, my family had to flee Sri Lanka today? Would they even be let in? President Trump, he can demonize immigrants to our country, but the truth for me is there's a family just like mine out there who applied, and they waited their turn, and they want to work hard and pay their taxes and raise a family and live a decent and safe life here. Just as immigrants before them have for generations. I know that that story is not only personal to my family, but it’s fundamental to the American experience. ... To me, that is the American dream. And I think that's what worries me. That the American dream is being threatened today in a way that I've never seen before.

After Trump was elected, there was a surge in women saying they wanted to run for office. How much did Trump’s election impact your own decision to run for office?

Coming out of the White House, obviously knowing that many of our achievements were threatened or had already been reversed in some fashion, certainly was an impetus for me contemplating running. But separately, I thought about the fact that for the first time in my life, in Maryland, no woman currently holds an elected federal or statewide office. Meaning all 10 members of Congress, the attorney general, the comptroller, the lieutenant governor, and the governor are all men. In this climate of having a President Trump, but also in Maryland, knowing that in those 14 offices, we have as few women today as we did a century ago, before women could vote, or even two centuries ago, when women couldn't even own property separate from their husbands, speaks to a broader concern I have, which is that while we have made significant progress in many ways, there are clearly some serious shortcomings. And that's why I do feel like it's critical that women like myself step up and run.

Vignarajah with her husband, Collin, and daughter, Alana. Courtesy of Krishanti Vignarajah

You’ve never held elected office. Neither has the president, whose administration has been engulfed in chaos over the past seven months. Why should Marylanders trust that you will be able to lead without any governing experience?

I think it's important not to make the mistake of treating experience, and experience in politics, the same. I have worked in law and government and business at the highest levels. I've managed billion-dollar initiatives and budgets. I have forged policies, built consensus around them, and then really delivered on them. ... Some folks have asked, "Why are you running for governor when you're not a career politician?" And I say to them: That's exactly why I'm running. If President Obama and the first lady taught me anything, it was how a fresh perspective and new generation of leadership can change the world. And frankly, the Democratic Party needs that at the state level now more than ever.

But Trump also pushed himself as an outsider who had a fresh perspective to bring to Washington.

The difference is that I may be an outsider to politics but I know how to get things done on the inside. And frankly, that's where I think there is a difference. Maryland voters are incredibly upset not just about the direction President Trump has taken the country, because he doesn’t have the experience, but he doesn’t have the judgment and wisdom to know what he knows, and know what he doesn't know.

You registered to vote in Washington, D.C., in 2010, and voted there multiple times. The Maryland constitution stipulates that candidates for governor must be registered to vote in Maryland for the five years immediately preceding the election, which means you may not be eligible to run. How are you qualified to represent Marylanders when you’ve been living and voting in D.C. for the last seven years?

To be clear, Maryland has been and always will be my home. My family came here when I was 9 months old. I was raised here. It's where I'm raising my daughter. It's where I got married. It is home to me. I had the privilege of a lifetime to serve Michelle Obama in the White House. And, like everyone else from across the country working in the Obama administration, we never lost sight of the people back home we were fighting for. The requirements to run in Maryland could not be clearer. I have been a resident and registered voter for far more than the required five years. So I am absolutely qualified to run.

You previously worked as a policy director for Michelle Obama, specifically on Let Girls Learn. What’s the most important lesson you learned from working with her?

Dealing with the tragic fact that so many girls are dropping out of school and not completing their middle school and high school education, it’s a problem that you realize requires a number of partners to tackle. And so for me, it proved the value of bringing a lot of people to the table. One of the things that I thought was critical to Let Girls Learn's success, and so what I focused on, was building both an international coalition of governments [and] bringing a range of private partners to the table. And so by the time I left the administration, I had forged around 100 private partnerships in support of Let Girls Learn.

Vignarajah and Michelle Obama in the White House. Courtesy of Krishanti Vignarajah

What about lessons learned from working with the former first lady?

It's quite famous now but her point about "when they go low, we go high" has always stuck with me. Particularly entering politics today, I realize it is more apt than ever. In a climate like this, there are a lot of divisive voices that are part of the conversation. And I think it's important that we always stay focused on what's important. What people care about. The struggles that people are enduring. The plight of women today.

In May, a leaked memo suggested that the Trump administration would try to end Let Girls Learn, though that was later denied by the White House. Why do you think it’s important for this program to continue?

Education is really a gateway to opportunity for so many of our children. And so ensuring that every child gets a basic education is something that is, I believe, a bipartisan, or nonpartisan, issue. That's where I think we've got to make sure that we are empowering the next generation. And programs like Let Girls Learn ensure that.

What advice would you give women who are hesitant to take the plunge and run for office?

Don't doubt yourself. As I was making the decision, there were a lot of considerations. But you have to listen to your heart. And for me, I know that I should run because I’m worried that my baby girl and all of our children would not have the same opportunities that I had growing up in Maryland. ... Women should think long and hard about whether it makes sense, but then they should do it. Sometimes we are paralyzed by indecision and doubt. Sometimes we let the negativity get too much to us. But the truth is — and I experienced this even in the last few days since I've launched — yes, of course, there’s the people who are going to sling mud. But the truth is, they get drowned out by the voices of support and encouragement.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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Rebecca Nelson Rebecca Nelson is a magazine writer in New York.

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