Candidate for
Green Party County Council; County of San Francisco

My family immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea when I was seven years old. I came up through the New York City public school system, then attended Barnard College, a small liberal arts school for women affiliated with Columbia University.

After working in a neighborhood legal services office in Washington D.C. assisting low income and disabled folks qualify for SSI benefits, I decided to go to law school. I attended the University of San Francisco School of Law. Since graduation, I have been working as a deputy public defender for 9 years, providing legal representation for folks in the criminal justice system who otherwise could not afford a lawyer.

I have lived in San Francisco since 1990. I am married to a criminal defense lawyer and we live in the Portola/Excelsior district of town with our 13-month-old daughter.

I have always been politically active in progressive issues. In high school, I helped form a group opposing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. While in college, I volunteered with OxFam to raise campus awareness of world hunger. During one summer, I worked for a domestic policy think tank on Capitol Hill, writing on legislation impacting families and children. During law school, I mentored youth offenders recently released from prison and represented children in the foster care system who were trying to reunify with their parents. For the past several years, I have been volunteering with a group that advocates for female prisoners, prisoners with AIDS and prisoners in California's maximum security units.

Over the years, I have been active on many campaigns including Matt Gonzalez for District Attorney (1999), for Supervisor (2000) and for Mayor (2003), Jeff Adachi for Public Defender (2002), Yes on Prop H (2003), No on Props. 187 and 209 (1994).

I joined the Green Party in 2002 because I believe its platform is our best chance at getting money out of politics, addressing the needs of poor and working families, ending discrimination on all levels and maintaining a clean and healthy environment.