Former Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping back into the national spotlight — and she’s coming with a message of courage and collective action.
In her first major speech since leaving office after the 2024 election, Harris will deliver the keynote address at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 30th, ESSENCE has learned.
Emerge, founded in 2002 in California, trains Democratic women candidates to run for public office, with a focus on those historically marginalized — including Black, Brown, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ women.
At the gala, Harris will honor Emerge’s legacy in helping elect more Democratic women while delivering what’s described as a “pointed critique” of President Donald Trump’s administration. She is expected to call out what she sees as Trump’s “reckless economic policies” and the “escalating crisis facing America’s institutions and global leadership.”
The former vice president will also highlight the enduring promise of America, expand on her message that “courage is contagious,” and urge Americans to find strength in collective action. It’s a theme Harris has leaned into more heavily in recent months — most notably at the Leading Women Defined Summit earlier this month, where she delivered brief but powerful remarks.
“There were many things we knew would happen,” Harris said at the summit, alluding to the second Trump presidency. “I’m not here to say I told you so,” she added, challenging a room full of Black women leaders to meet the current moment with courage.
Wednesday’s speech comes as Trump approaches his 100th day in office — a milestone marked by crashing global stock markets, massive protests across the country, sweeping cuts to federal spending and mass firings of federal workers.
A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll shows Trump with the lowest 100-day job approval rating of any president in the past 80 years, with 55% of Americans disapproving of his performance so far.
Harris is expected to deliver a call to action, emphasizing what she has often described throughout her political career as the ultimate power of “We, The People.”
Her appearance at the Emerge gala also brings her full circle. In 2003, Harris launched her first campaign for San Francisco district attorney with the help of Andrea Dew Steele, who would later co-found Emerge California. That grassroots campaign helped Harris, who started that campaign with just 6 percent name recognition went on to defeat her incumbent boss with 56 percent of the vote, setting her on the path to becoming California attorney general, U.S. senator and eventually vice president.