Candidate for
Member, Community College Board; County of San Francisco; 4 Year Full Term

My political philosophy is simple: be inclusive

As a woman who grew up in a political household, I never "took" to politics for the simple reason that I didn't see myself "fitting in" to what a politician was. They were (and are) mostly male, white, wealthy, and born to run.

It wasn't until I was in my 40's and I had been initiated into the frustrating world of trying to make change happen that I recognized that what I had seen and accomplished as an entrepreneur in business could also work for politics. That if I was part of the process, I could effect more change--for my neighborhood, for my children, for my city. And I began to get interested in politics.

But, it was an uphill slog. Politics is run by a very small group of people who are pretty insular. They are not that interested in people who have had a life that did not overtly include politics (although I have been a fighter for pro-choice since my 20s). They were confused by a mom, a small business woman, a neighborhood activist.

But, as I do with other parts of my life, I persevered. Partly out of stubborness (don't tell me I can't do things if you want me to go away), partly because I was intrigued and really felt I had something to offer--call it real world experience--to the picture. So many women in politics are young and haven't had a family or a career.

This is a long way of saying that the most important thing for me as a politician is to bring more people into the political process. People who never considered politics. People who have been successful and unsuccessful in their various endeavors (if you don't try things, you definitely don't learn, and when you try new things you fail). People who believe, as I do, that inclusiveness is the key to a better democracy.