I was born in Palo Alto in 1961, and I've lived in the area ever since. I attended Cupertino schools as a child, then Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, and then DeAnza College in Cupertino.

While at DeAnza, I was chosen to represent DeAnza and Foothill students as Student Trustee on the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District Board.

After graduating from DeAnza with an A.A. in Business Administration, I earned a B.A. in Mathematics and teaching credential from the University of California, Santa Cruz. I have been a math teacher for over 15 years, and currently work as a high-school math teacher.

Throughout my career, I have remained active in the community. I graduated from the inaugural class of the MALDEF (Mexican-American Legal Defense & Education Fund) Leadership Development Program in 1985. I served on the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization from 1985 - 1990. I have also served on the Board of Directors of the Foothill-DeAnza Colleges Foundation, Council on Higher Education Accreditation, and Friends of the River. I was a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee of the Valley Transportation Authority for several years, and later the VTA Policy Advisory Committee. I now serve as the Vice-Chair of the VTA Board of Directors. I am also a Board member of West Valley Community Services, formerly Cupertino Community Services.

For many years, I have also been an active volunteer in local, state and national campaigns and a variety of community, environmental and womens' organizations. After working in numerous political campaigns at the local, state and national levels, I ran for the Foothill-DeAnza College Board in 1991. In a competitive race with 9 other candidates, I won election to a four-year term in November 1991. I was re-elected in November 1995, and won a third term in 1999. I was elected to the Cupertino City Council in November, 2001, and re-elected in 2005.

When I'm not busy with teaching, community work or elected duties, I lead groups on whitewater rafting trips as a volunteer guide with Friends of the River. I live in Cupertino with my husband Ed, who is a manager in a Silicon Valley software company.