Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 21

Steve Poizner, Candidate for State Assembly

MY BACKGROUND

Community service and public policy have been part of my life since my undergraduate days at the University of Texas. While working on my B.S. in Electrical Engineering, I organized charitable fundraisers and chaired the University's speakers committee - for which I was fortunate enough to be selected the outstanding (male) student at the University of Texas. After Texas, I attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business where I received an MBA and graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar in 1980.

Over the last 20 years, while founding two technology companies (Strategic Mapping and SnapTrack), I have been active in the Palo Alto Jaycees and numerous other charity and advocacy organizations. Through the Poizner Family Foundation, a charitable organization my wife and I started, my family has made personal and foundation gifts of nearly $2 million to improve the quality of the lives of children in the inner cities. And in my business life, I am particularly proud of co-founding SnapTrack -- a company that was acquired in 2000 for $1 Billion by Qualcomm and whose cell phone pinpointing technology will save thousands of lives each and every year.

In 2001, I was honored to be 1 of only 12 people chosen out of a pool of close to 1,000 applicants to serve a year-long White House Fellowship. I began my year as a White House Fellow on September 4, 2001 - timing that made my first assignment (Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection in the National Security Council) all the more urgent. Six months later, I started my second assignment in another field close to my heart - improving services to disadvantaged children and adolescents. My proposal for a new White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth was implemented by a presidential executive order, and my proposal for a $300 million mentoring program for adolescents in low income areas received prominent mention by President Bush during the 2003 State of the Union address.

But by far the most enlightening experience I've had was my most recent one. Following my White House Fellowship, in 2002 I spent 2 semesters teaching 12th grade at an inner-city public school in east San Jose. From that experience, I developed a strong appreciation for the work good teachers do each and every day. I was especially honored when Principal Art Darin presented me with the "Rookie Teacher of the Year" award for Mount Pleasant High School.

I've been proud to call the Bay Area my home since 1978, but I'm still a newcomer compared to my wife Carol and her extended family (who have roots in the region dating back over 50 years). The Silicon Valley is a great place to live, and I look forward to working with you to make it an even better place in the future.

Please visit my website at http://www.joinsteve.com for more information on my campaign and plans to improve California.