Kamala World: The Bay Area elites powering Harris’ campaign for president

The road to the White House ain’t cheap. But if there’s one place with the juice to get a political candidate into the Oval Office, it’s the moneyed Bay Area. The region’s well-resourced coterie of Democratic power players are angling to throw big bucks toward any and all efforts to keep Donald Trump out of the White House — and to elect one of their own, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris, who cut her teeth as San Francisco district attorney before serving as California attorney general and in the U.S. Senate, has decades-long connections to tech scions, philanthropists and political organizers who are set to provide the billions required to land her inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Who are the power players in Kamala World? Here are the Bay Area elites who have a history of organizing for the VP — and are likely to open their wallets, homes and Rolodexes to get her to the finish line in November.

The couple are longtime Democratic Party donors and co-founders of the Oakland-based Akonadi Foundation, an organization focused on racial justice issues. They were some of the earliest California supporters of former President Barack Obama and also directed money toward Harris’ 2020 primary campaign. The couple were set to host a fundraiser for President Joe Biden on July 27 in the East Bay city of Piedmont before he dropped out of the race. A spokesperson for the campaign on Tuesday did not have an update on the status of the fundraiser.

Like Harris, Kounalakis broke glass ceilings by becoming the first woman to serve as state lieutenant governor, winning the seat in 2018. An ambassador to Hungary during the Obama administration, Kounalakis has known Harris for roughly two decades and has facilitated fundraisers that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Biden’s campaign. The two have also helped each other politically: Harris endorsed Kounalakis during her bid for lieutenant governor, while the latter urged Biden to pick the then-U.S. senator as VP.

“She has a lot of friends,” Kounalakis told The Standard of Harris. “Very close friends. Personal and political.” 

A “seasoned political operative,” according to her website, Roumeliotes and her firm SGR Consulting have raised money for Democratic candidates that include Harris, Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Roumeliotes and her husband, John Costouros, hosted a 2023 fundraiser at their home in the ritzy enclave of Hillsborough that was attended by the vice president. Roumeliotes also helped host a luncheon with Harris this month in San Francisco. 

“She’s a true patriot,” Roumeliotes said in an interview. “The vice president is the right person for the moment.”

A Silicon Valley venture capitalist and billionaire, Conway is a longtime supporter of moderate Democratic causes. At the local level, Conway, along with other wealthy contributors, helped fund Mayor London Breed’s public safety measure during the March primary to give increased powers to the San Francisco Police Department. He is also helping fund a recall effort against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. 

On Monday, Conway’s endorsement offered Harris the backing of one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful political financiers. The move stood in stark contrast to other tech billionaires backing Trump; notably, Elon Musk.

“The tech community must come together to defeat Donald Trump and save our democracy by uniting behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for President,” Conway posted on X. 

Newstat is a policy adviser and human rights advocate on the board of Emily’s List, an influential organization that helps elect women to public office and has promised to direct millions of dollars toward Harris. Newstat has worked with Harris, Newsom and Breed. Her wife, Lowenberg, is president of the real estate investment firm Lowenberg Corporation and hosted a fundraiser with Harris this month in Nob Hill.

Friedman leads the Bay Area’s Jewish Family and Children’s Services and sits on the board of the Koret Foundation, a regional philanthropic group. During a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in 2017, Harris referred to Friedman and well-known philanthropist and socialite Cissie Swig as “dear friends.” Both Friedman and Swig have given tens of thousands of dollars to Harris’ campaigns and PACs. Friedman and Harris traveled to Israel together in 2004.

The philanthropist power couple, longtime players in local politics and media, have a real estate portfolio worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Clint has consulted on the campaigns of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, while Janet, a onetime journalist, co-founded the nonprofit Clinic by the Bay. The couple hosted a fundraiser for Biden and Harris in 2023 at the swanky Merchants Exchange in downtown SF that reportedly brought in more than $3 million.

Jobs, the president and founder of the Emerson Collective and the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, is one of the world’s wealthiest women, with billions of dollars at her disposal and sprawling connections in tech and philanthropy. She held a fundraiser for Harris in 2013 at her home in Palo Alto, and the two have spoken together publicly about their distaste for Trump’s politics. 

Sisson is a sociologist, author and Democratic fundraiser whose husband co-founded Facebook and is CEO of the streaming service Philo. The two hosted a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in 2022 at their home in Twin Peaks, with Harris in attendance. 

“People who were on the sidelines and having concerns are absolutely ready to go,” Sisson told The Standard about fundraising efforts. “The Bay Area has a strong tradition of national politics, and we will continue that for this race.”

Yekutiel’s Mission cafe Manny’s has become a hub of Democratic organizing since opening in 2018. In June, Yekutiel hosted a fundraiser and introduced Harris before a crowd of donors at The Chapel, a music venue on Valencia Street. He also hosted her during her 2020 presidential campaign and her run for the U.S. Senate. Yekutiel said he plans to facilitate phone banks for Harris targeting the swing state of Pennsylvania and door-knocking in Nevada.

“She’s a very effervescent person,” said Yekutiel. “I think it’ll energize the base a lot.”

A longtime friend of Harris, Bonnie is an investor who has helped fundraise for the vice president and served on her past campaign finance committees. In 2022, Bonnie co-hosted a Democratic fundraiser with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman at her San Francisco home. 

The Buells are significant donors to Democratic causes who have supported Harris since her early days in San Francisco politics. Mark served as finance chair of Harris’ bid for district attorney in the mid-2000s, raising a historic amount of money to kick out incumbent Terence Hallinan. 

Susie is co-founder of outdoor equipment brand The North Face and a close ally of Hillary Clinton, having raised millions for the former secretary of State during her 2016 race against Trump. Susie told The Standard in a text exchange that fundraising events for Harris are in the works. 

“Every woman, and man, I know is up for it all,” she wrote about donor efforts. “The Christian fundamentalists and MAGA have no idea what they are dealing with.”

The billionaire LinkedIn co-founder has positioned himself as a bulwark within Silicon Valley against Trump, even helping pay legal fees for the writer E. Jean Carroll, who sued the former president for rape and defamation. Hoffman has clapped back at other Silicon Valley techies who have come out to support Trump, including entrepreneur David Sacks. Hoffman was also one of the first tech donors to publicly support Harris after Biden backed out of the race.