Candidate for
Supervisor; County of San Francisco; District 1

Matt Tuchow is a long-time community leader in the Richmond District. He has broad experience working on public policy issues that matter to Richmond residents: public transportation, parks revitalization, and neighborhood schools, to list a few.

Residents of the Richmond for ten years, Matt and his wife Nikki are raising their two children here. Former renters and current homeowners, they understand the challenges of finding affordable housing. With a son at Alamo Elementary School, Matt has served on the Alamo School Foundation to raise significant funds to support public education in the District.

As a member of Mayor Newsom's Transition Team, Matt studied low-cost opportunities for the City to attract business and create jobs. He serves on the state Democratic Party's Platform Committee, and he is a board member of the Planning Association for the Richmond (PAR).

Matt's lifelong commitment to public service developed as a child in Detroit's Lafayette Park inner city neighborhood. At a young age, Matt witnessed the devastating effects when public policy failed an urban community. That experience influenced him to pursue a public policy career, and motivates his community service.

After graduating with honors from Yale University, Matt taught for two years at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then entered Harvard Law School, and graduated with honors.

After graduating from law school 16 years ago, Matt came to San Francisco, the city he has made his home ever since. Working for a large San Francisco employer in the private sector as an in-house lawyer, Matt received awards for his ability to bring people of diverse backgrounds together and deliver results. In 2002 he served as senior policy advisor to U.S. Congressman Levin where he focused on issues of human rights and corporate social responsibility. In 2003 he launched his own firm, focusing on international law, human rights, and corporate social responsibility issues and teaches corporate social responsibility.

Matt excels in working with people from diverse backgrounds and points of view and building consensus to achieve mutually beneficial results. He believes that elected officials must listen to, seek to understand, and fairly represent beliefs different from their own. They must be creative, look for low-cost solutions, and research other cities' solutions for implementation here. They must be independent and willing to make nonpolitical choices.

Matt knows that the Richmond District is a wonderful place in which to live. He believes it can be even better with clean, safe streets, new job opportunities, affordable housing, neighborhood schools, and well-maintained parks and recreation areas. None of this can happen overnight, but Matt has the public policy experience, the community spirit, the open mind, and the intelligence and perseverance to make the dream come true.