Usha Reddi, a leader in the Kansas DNC, was sworn in as the first Indian American to serve in the Kansas State Senate. Reddi was also the first Indian-American to serve as a mayor in Kansas and Commissioner. Reddi's family immigrated from India to the United States in 1973, when she was eight years old. Her father, a retired anesthesiologist was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with nine years suspended, for raping her repeatedly in the 1970s when she was a child. Usha has refused to let this assault and abuse define her life and is focused on criminal justice and victims’ rights legislative reforms, including the way statutes of limitations limit prosecutions for sexual assault or how the burden falls on victims to prove that they were harmed. Usha has lived in Manhattan for more than 28 years. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Developmental Psychology from Ohio State University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Kansas State University.