Former Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping back onto the national stage with a powerful message. This Wednesday, she will headline the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco. It will mark her first major speech since leaving office after the 2024 election.
At the event, Harris will deliver a pointed critique of Donald Trump’s leadership, especially targeting his economic policies. She will also honor grassroots women leaders and call for collective action across the country.
Harris to Champion Women’s Leadership at Emerge Gala
Harris’s keynote address will celebrate Emerge’s two decades of work empowering Democratic women. Founded in California in 2002, Emerge trains women from historically marginalized groups to run for office. Black, Brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ women have especially benefited from its programs.
Through her speech, Harris plans to highlight how organizations like Emerge strengthen democracy. She will also share her belief that courage is contagious and that collective action can move mountains. It is a message she has passionately carried into many of her recent appearances.
A Pointed Critique of Trump’s Economic Policies
Harris will not hold back on criticizing Trump’s return to the White House. She is expected to blast his “reckless economic policies” and call attention to America’s growing leadership crisis under his watch.
Recent events back her concerns. Trump’s first 100 days have seen crashing global markets, widespread protests, and mass federal layoffs. A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll shows 55% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, the worst 100-day rating in 80 years.
“We, The People” Remains Harris’s Central Call
Throughout her political career, Harris has stressed the power of “We, The People.” This speech will be no different. She will call on Americans to tap into their collective strength to protect democracy and rebuild trust in national institutions.
At the Leading Women Defined Summit earlier this month, Harris made her position clear.
“There were many things we knew would happen,”
Harris said, referencing Trump’s second presidency.
“I’m not here to say I told you so,” she added, urging Black women leaders to rise with courage.
Full Circle Moment for Kamala Harris
Harris’s appearance at the Emerge gala is deeply personal. In 2003, she launched her first campaign for San Francisco district attorney with strong support from Emerge California’s co-founder, Andrea Dew Steele.
Starting with just six percent name recognition, Harris won her race by defeating the incumbent with 56 percent of the vote. That grassroots victory put her on the path to becoming California’s attorney general, a U.S. senator, and finally the vice president.
Now, over two decades later, she returns to celebrate an organization that helped launch her historic career. And she brings with her a renewed call for action, courage, and unity in uncertain times.
