Tara Sreekrishnan running for California State Assembly

Indian American community leader Tara Sreekrishnan, currently serving on the Santa Clara County Board of Education, is running for California State Assembly from District 26.

“Silicon Valley fosters innovation and attracts the world’s brightest,” she stated announcing her run. “I believe in Silicon Valley, yet it’s crucial to acknowledge the challenges our residents face: housing affordability, climate change, traffic congestion, and an education system that needs strengthening.”

“Addressing these challenges – and spending tax dollars efficiently and effectively – is why I’m running for State Assembly,” Sreekrishnan added.

READ: List of Indian Americans running for Congress in 2024 (January 15, 2024)

Sreekrishnan, 30, has served on the county board of education since 2021. She currently serves as state Sen Dave Cortese’s deputy chief of staff and legislative director. She was previously Cortese’s chief of staff when he was a county supervisor.

She is also the co-founder of Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action—a nonprofit that seeks to combat climate change through education and public policy initiatives.

Sreekrishnan is endorsed by State Sen. Dave Cortese, state Sen. Nancy Skinner, Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Cupertino community leader Mahesh Nihlani, Ajay Bhutoria, White House Commissioner on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Affairs, among others.

“As a child of immigrants growing up here, I benefited from the diversity and energy in this District,” she states on her website. “With an aim to pay it forward, I founded a non-profit organization that has empowered hundreds of students across Cupertino, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale to actively engage in the environmental sciences and conservation.”

READ: Ash Kalra named chair of California Assembly Judiciary Committee (November 28, 2023)

“Connecting good schools to jobs of the future is why I serve our children as a Trustee on the Santa Clara County Board of Education – overseeing 270,000 students and balancing a budget of $300 million. I earned the confidence of our families and was re-elected in 2022,” Sreekrishnan stated.

“With professional experience across all levels of local government – school district, city, county, and state – I’ve written and passed legislation that developed housing for the homeless, modernized our schools, curbed youth drug overdoses, and expanded job training and apprenticeship programs,” she added.

“I’m running for Assembly because I understand what it takes to make California financially responsible, improve our education system so that our children have future career opportunities, and to make sure our communities are safe, clean and affordable,” Sreekrishnan stated.

Her inspiration for public service came from her immigrant parents: they taught her the value of education and to give back to her community, according to her website.

She carries on the legacy of her mother, who worked hard in our schools as a librarian and volunteer fundraiser. Tara herself is a former piano teacher at a Cupertino music academy.

Sreekrishnan graduated from Mills College, the oldest women’s college on the West Coast. After college, she set out to work as a community and political organizer for grassroots campaigns in the community and across the Bay Area.