Candidate for
Member, Board of Directors; West Basin Municipal Water District; Division 3

Carol W. Kwan Biography

Ms. Kwan was born in Hong Kong and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1971. They settled in the South Bay area where Carol spent her childhood. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach.

Ms. Kwan was very involved with the family's restaurant while she was growing up. At the age of fifteen, she took over responsibility for running all aspects of the family business. After graduating from college, Carol managed her family's business for a few more years, then started a successful marketing and promotion company in Los Angeles.

In 1994, Carol went to China where she spent two years as an environmental consultant to the water authority in the city of ZhongShang, GuangDong. During this period she consulted on the financial and social feasibility of a water recycling and reclamation plant. She is currently the President of Engineering Ventures for the Environment (EVE), a non-profit organization.

As the first Asian-American and the first female elected to the West Basin Municipal Water District Board of Directors, Ms Kwan represents the cities of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Lomita and unincorporated areas of Torrance. Director Kwan also serves as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee, which oversees the District's annual budget of over $100 million dollars. She has also served as a Director of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest water agency in the United States.

Ms. Kwan is the Vice-Chair of the Southern California Chinese Association of Commerce, Co-Chair of the Golden Dragon Parade of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of LA, and is a Board Member of the Chinese Heart Council of the American Heart Association. She recently chaired an international seminar on water and wastewater management and has frequently been invited to speak at conferences in Asia on water related issues. She is also the co-chair of the Water Reuse Committee of the International Water Association.

Ms. Kwan speaks fluent Cantonese and Mandarin.