Texas, USA (CU)_ Nima Kulkarni, the first Indian American elected to the Kentucky State Legislature said that she entered politics to make a difference to the world. Kulkarni and her family moved to Louisville from India when she was six years old in order to obtain special education for her brother at The de Paul School. Kulkarni studied at law school in D.C. following her graduation from Atherton High School and the University of Louisville.
In 2010, Kulkarni returned to Louisville and established the Indus Law Firm. With a focus on immigration and employment law, Kulkarni has supported everyone from teachers to scientists to find employment. Kulkarni spoke about her Indus Law Firm. She said, “I started my own immigration law practice. I focused primarily on employment-based immigration, so my focus is to help a lot of businesses throughout the country who want to bring workers here.”
Kulkarni established her New Americans Initiative in 2013, an organization committed to educating, engaging, and raising consciousness of issues related to migration. She said, “I started it with a primary focus on making sure that those who can get naturalized to get their citizenship were able to do so”.
Then politics intervened in her life. Kulkarni’s campaign targeted issues that have been significant to her since she was a teenager, including labor, education, healthcare, and immigration. In 2019, Kulkarni was elected as a member of the Kentucky General Assembly for District 40, which covers the University of Louisville, Churchill Downs, and parts of south Louisville. Kulkarni expressed pride over the new appointment. She said, “I think the district was ready for change. That’s the reason why I was elected.”
Kulkarni gets the credit of the first Indian American to be elected to the law making body, apart from the credit of the first immigrant to be elected to the legislature. Kulkarni expressed happiness, saying, “Everyone I talked to was incredibly excited — the first woman, first woman of color and of course the daughter of immigrants. Again, it was a historic moment and I think it’s inspiring because it’s normal now. You have somebody that looks like you that maybe has shared experiences, so it’s been a very exciting time for me personally and our whole entire community.”
Simultaneously, hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased in the United States. According to Kulkarni, anti-Asian hatred has been difficult to experience, as it has been for many other community leaders. She said that this should not result in violence. She said, “Making sure you don’t perpetuate stereotypes, things that are defensive, hurtful to the community. It’s really just a lack of understanding.” President Joe Biden signed an enactment on Thursday aimed at reducing anti-Asian hate crimes by providing grants to law enforcement agencies to help them strengthen their investigation, recognition, and monitoring of bias-related incidents, which are often unreported.
