The Philosophy Department is proud to report that Maya Rupert, one of our former majors (BA 2003), was keynote speaker at this year’s UCSB Women in Business luncheon. Rupert, who earned a JD from UC Berkeley after graduating from UCSB, is a political strategist, writer, and advocate. Her many accomplishments include serving as Senior Policy Advisor to the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as Policy Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and as Senior Director for Policy and Managing Director of the DC office for the Center for Reproductive Rights. She was campaign manager for Julián Castro’s presidential campaign in 2020 and for Maya Wiley’s NYC Mayoral campaign in 2021. Rupert frequently writes about race, gender, culture, and politics for prestigious publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate, and Salon. She has appeared as a guest on national television and radio programs, including for MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and SiriusXM. 

In her UCSB address, Rupert discussed barriers to success faced by women in business. She stressed that even internal barriers (such as lack of self-confidence) are ultimately caused by external, structural barriers. She drew richly on her own experience as a Black woman working in politics and the non-profit sector, and through a mixture of anecdote and analysis gave a nuanced and philosophically sharp account of the problems while also providing practical and helpful advice for her audience of aspiring women in business.