After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1992, Maya held executive positions at the civil-rights group PolicyLink, the Ford Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. At 29, she even became one of the youngest law school deans ever when she assumed the position at Lincoln Law School in Sacramento. Eventually, Maya turned to politics when she served as a senior policy adviser on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, and four years later, Maya served as her sister's campaign chairperson in the 2020 presidential election.
"I think most people who know Maya will tell you she's one of the smartest people they know," Kamala told Politico during a June 2019 interview. "The fact that she has volunteered to work on this campaign at such a high level and she's exactly who she's always been. She works around the clock and she's probably the hardest, if not one of the hardest, working people on the campaign. I feel very blessed."