Candidate for
Democratic Party County Central Committee; County of San Francisco; Assembly District 13

Scott Wiener's dedication to public service and his experience will allow him to bring considerable strategic leadership and organizing skills to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee.

Scott was born in Philadelphia and raised in Southern New Jersey in a staunchly Democratic family. He first became active in politics in high school by working on a state Assembly race and interning for then-Congressman Jim Florio.

Scott attended college at Duke University, where he majored in history and Spanish. At Duke, he was heavily involved in Democratic politics, helping to resurrect the campus Democratic Club and working on Harvey Gantt's 1990 U.S. Senate campaign against Jesse Helms. Scott then spent a year in Santiago, Chile, on a Fulbright Scholarship.

After returning from Chile, Scott attended Harvard Law School, where he co-chaired Lambda (the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender student organization) and where he served as Lead Executive Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Scott helped to organize a boycott of the law firm that represented the State of Colorado in the state's defense before the U.S. Supreme Court of the homophobic Amendment 2, which would have barred all state and local protections for gay and lesbian citizens. Scott also participated in multiple clinical programs defending indigent adults and juveniles from criminal prosecution and providing legal services to indigent persons living with HIV/AIDS.

After law school, Scott served as a law clerk on the Supreme Court of New Jersey, working for Justice Alan Handler. Scott focused on death penalty issues and worked closely with Justice Handler to move the court toward an anti-death-penalty position.

In 1997, Scott moved to San Francisco, where he lives in the City's Castro District. After settling in San Francisco, Scott spent five years as an attorney with Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe. At Heller Ehrman, Scott practiced commercial litigation, with a focus on financial and accounting-related litigation.

Scott devoted almost 20% of his time at Heller Ehrman to pro bono matters. Among other pro bono engagements, he defended approximately fifteen indigent tenants facing eviction proceedings, represented several Latin American asylumseekers who were facing deportation, represented immigrants in civil rights lawsuits against the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and represented (along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Michael Cardoza) Sharon Smith in her civil lawsuit based on the dog-mauling death of her partner Diane Whipple.

In 2002, Scott accepted a position with the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, where he currently works on the office's Trial Team representing City departments in civil litigation.

Since arriving in San Francisco in 1997, Scott has dedicated himself to working for the community. He currently serves as co-chair of the board of directors of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Community Center and has served on that board since 1998 (spending three years as treasurer before becoming board co-chair in 2002). Scott played a key role in helping transform the 25-year dream of an LGBT Community Center into a reality and continues to help lead the organization toward its mission of serving the entire diversity of the community.

Scott served for four years on the board of directors of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), which is the largest LGBT bar association in the country. Scott co-chaired the BALIF board for two years and served as treasurer for two years.

Scott currently serves on the board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT advocacy organization in the country, and previously served as chair of the Harvard Law School Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Alumni(ae) Committee.

Scott received an award from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights for his pro bono and community work while at Heller Ehrman and has received community service awards from the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.

Scott has also been very involved in local Democratic politics, serving as political action co-chair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and volunteering on the campaigns of Mark Leno, Bevan Dufty, Susan Leal, and Kamala Harris.