When Joe Biden gets sworn in as the 46th President of the United States today, his vice president Kamala Harris will be right by his side.
Her barrier-breaking appointment to office heralds a series of firsts. She will be the first female vice president and the first woman of colour in that position.
And the 56-year-old former attorney general of California comes from a family of extremely accomplished women.
Kamala's mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, refused an arranged marriage and immigrated from Chennai, India, to California as a teenager to focus on her studies and forge a career as a distinguished breast cancer researcher.
Father Donald J. Harris is a Jamaican-American economist and professor and met Shyamala Gopalan through the civil rights movement before becoming a professor of economics at Stanford University.
Shyamala sadly died from colon cancer in 2009, but her ambition and drive left a lasting impact on her daughters Kamala and Maya.
“Shyamala Harris was no more than five feet tall, but if you ever met her you would think she was seven feet tall," Kamala once said on Instagram.
“She had such spirit and tenacity and I’m thankful every day to have been raised by her.”
Maya was just 17 when she fell pregnant with her daughter Meena, but she didn't let that stand in the way of her career goals.
She went on to become a lawyer, public policy advocate, and a television commentator and served as an advisor during Hilary Clinton's 2016 presidential run.
Maya has most recently worked as her sister's campaign chairwoman, with Kamala telling Politico: “I think most people who know Maya will tell you she’s one of the smartest people they know.
“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.”
Her daughter Meena is a Harvard graduate, lawyer and children's book author and has dedicated her Instagram feed to her aunt's campaign.
She and her husband Nikolas Ajagu have two adorable young daughters who have become the stars of the show.
A video of ambitious little Amara Ajuga sitting on her great-aunt's lap as Kamala reassured her that yes, she could one day be president, went viral.
And Meena said that for Kamala, her relationship with the girls is one of her most prized.
"My Aunt Kamala takes *very seriously* her role as a great aunt in helping to shape my daughters," she said.
"If she had her way, the girls (only 2 and 4 years old) would be on the campaign trail with her every day."
Kamala does not have children of her own but is step-mother to her lawyer husband Doug Emhoff's kids Cole, 26, and Ella, 21.
And she is even good friends with their mother, Doug's ex-wife Kertin Emhoff, and has said that being 'Momala' to her stepchildren is the role 'that means the most' to her.
