Padma moved to Michigan with her husband and two children nearly 25 years ago and is committed to supporting refugee and immigrant communities, taking action to expand access to services to immigrants in Michigan on several occasions. Throughout her life, Kuppa has sought to bring people together to solve problems both in the professional world and in the community. As the first Indian immigrant and Hindu in the state legislature, and a Michigander for more than 20 years, she is focused on serving the people of Troy and Clawson in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Kuppa is a mechanical engineer and project manager with a career spanning the higher education, marketing, automotive, financial, and IT sectors. Kuppa has been a civic leader, volunteering with the PTA throughout her children’s K-12 education, founding the Troy-area Interfaith Group to bring people of all faiths together, and serving on Troy’s Planning Commission. She is currently President of the Troy Historical Society, a board member of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, and on the Advisory Councils for South Asian American Voices for Impact and the Great Lakes Political Academy.

Rep. Kuppa champions issues for several caucuses including the Progressive Women’s Caucus (PWC), the Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus, the Poverty and Homelessness Caucus, and the Oakland County Caucus. She also serves as Historian of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus (MLBC) and Co-Chairs both the Asian-Pacific American (APA) Caucus and the bipartisan House Breakfast Group.