Candidate for
Council Member; City of San Gabriel

Jason was born in 1973 at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. His parents immigrated to the United State as a young couple and, like many immigrant parents, worked very hard to provide Jason and his younger brother with as many opportunities as possible.

In high school, Jason was Captain of the Varsity Football Team and Class Salutatorian. He was also a four-year member of Key Club and a student leader in Math Club, Chess Club and Latin Club. Jason went to college at Stanford University where he continued his role as a student leader and became a founding member of several student organizations. He gave speeches at Stanford's Memorial Church and a key presentation to Stanford's Faculty Senate on important political and curricular issues.

After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in Psychology in 1995, Jason went to the UCLA School of Law where he continued his career in community service by volunteering for free legal clinics and numerous community organizations. In addition, Jason received a National Association for Public Interest Law/VISTA*AmeriCorps Summer Legal Fellowship (1 of only 60 law students in the entire U.S. to receive such a fellowship) to work at Public Counsel in its Community Development Programs providing free legal work for micro-enterprise businesses, nonprofit organizations and community health clinics.

Jason graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 1999, passed the California Bar Exam and began practicing law with a premiere Silicon Valley law firm as a business attorney representing technology companies, venture capital, and banks and financial institutions. At the same time, Jason also earned a Pro Bono Attorney of the Month award from the San Mateo County Legal Aid Society for his work providing free business services to low-income entrepreneurs and small business owners.

More recently, Jason served as pro bono attorney with Kids In Need of Defense assisting a minor girl from China who was smuggled to the U.S. and as co-executive producer of the Thousand Hearts Benefit Concert raising money for survivors of the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Today, Jason is a dedicated family man and community member. His wife, Kathay Feng, is an accomplished civil rights lawyer and policy advocate. She serves as the Executive Director of California Common Cause, whose motto is "Holding Power Accountable." Together, they have a six-year old daughter who is a 1st grader at McKinley Elementary School.

Jason is Chair of the McKinley Elementary School Site Council and Kathay is president of McKinley's parent+teacher organization. Jason is also Chair of the San Gabriel Unified School District's Board Advisory Improvement Committee which provides community input to the San Gabriel Unified School District Board.

Professionally, Jason currently works on a contract basis in the Procurement Department as a Contracts Attorney with Farmers Insurance Group. Jason negotiates and drafts contracts with Farmers' vendors to maximize the value of the dollars that Farmers spends with its vendors and Jason will utilize his skills and expertise to maximize the value the of taxpayers' dollars that the City of San Gabriel spends with its vendors.

As a business attorney, Jason understands how to incentivize government and business to work together for sensible and balanced development. As a community advocate, Jason understands the needs of our residents and will foster better communication and understanding among San Gabriel's diverse groups.

Jason's pledge is that he will represent the San Gabriel community with character, integrity and honesty and ensure that the City of San Gabriel is open, responsive and effective and lives up to a high code of ethics and accountability.