Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party County Central Committee; County of Los Angeles; Assembly District 42

ELENA ONG

Elena Ong is a Faculty Member, Public Policy Consultant & Political Leader who is recognized by Who's Who Among American Women & Who's Who in Research for her commitment to Public Service. She is a lifelong Democrat, and has lived in the 42nd Assembly District for more than 25 years.

The daughter of an artist, Elena went to art school to become an advertising/marketing executive, but after studying art in Harlem and witnessing social injustice firsthand (the unfair treatment of people who were denied access to health care simply because it was assumed that people who looked a certain way or lived in a specific neighborhood, lacked the resources, health insurance, legal immigration status, and/or the ability to speak English to gain equal access to health services), Elena's career trajectory took a u-turn.

After working with a group of concerned citizens: academic, government, business and community leaders/residents, to solve access to health care issues in America's urban enclaves, Elena learned life's important lessons: not the "art of war," but the the "art of collaboration," the "art of hope" and the "art of the possible." She learned the difference between "stop-gap problem-solving" and the value of being a social architect, to "earn trust" and "build solutions from the ground up."

CIVIC LEADER COMMITTED TO ADVANCING THE HEALTH & ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF ALL AMERICANS

Inspired by hope, to make America a better place for people who have been discriminated against, Elena studied Women's Studies & Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley; Public Health Nursing at UC San Francisco; and Health Policy & Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Access to Health Care at the Kennedy School of Government with former US DOL Secretary John Dunlop.

Fueled by her life's cause: "to advance the health and economic well-being of ALL Americans" by "solution-building from the ground-up", she worked as a community organizer, a social worker, a research assistant for nationally renown policy institutes, a community health nurse, a long term care/hospice nurse, a policy analyst for the Medi-Cal Czar, a strategic planner/senior level public health administrator for the nation's 2nd largest health care safety net, a social marketing/community benefits adviser to philanthropic non-profit organizations, a leader for numerous women's organizations, a commissioner, a political consultant and a political leader.

Over the course of her life's journey, Elena has organized events/collaborations involving a diverse range of organizational leaders, such as: DNC Chair Howard Dean & DNC Vice Chair Mike Honda; US Senators Barbara Boxer & Dianne Feinstein; US Representatives Robert Matsui*, Juanita Millender-McDonald*, Laura Richardson, Hilda Solis & Diane Watson; Governor Gray & First Lady Sharon Davis*; Secretary of State Debra Bowen; Treasurer Phil Angelides*; BOE Members Betty Yee & Judy Chu; State Senators Martha Escutia*, Sheila Kuehl, Jenny Oropeza, Debra Ortiz* & Gloria Romero; Assemblymembers Karen Bass, Julia Brownley, Wilma Chan*, Mike Eng, Jackie Goldberg*, Hannah-Beth Jackson*, Betty Karnette, Carol Liu* & Fran Pavley*; Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, LA City Controller Laura Chick & LA City Councilmembers Wendy Greuel, Janice Hahn, Jan Perry & Herb Wesson; Celebrities Erika Alexander, America Ferrera, Dolores Huerta, Jane Kaczmarek, Sharon Lawrence & Lily Tomlin; and organizations like: AARP, APHA, CEWAER, CMA, Coalition of 100 Black Women, FUTURE PAC, Hollywood NOW, HOPE, HOPE-PAC, LAAAW-PAC, LA NOW, Leadership America, Leadership California, NACW, NOW, NWPC, NWPC LA Westside, NWPC LA/Metro, NWPC San Fernando Valley, SheVotes.org, SCLN, etc.

LEVERAGING THE POWER OF LOCAL POLITICS TO EMPOWER STATE & NATIONAL POLITICS/PUBLIC POLICY

It is often said, "how go Los Angeles" (and the 42nd AD), "could go California and the nation."

Elena:

- Is a Lifelong Democrat,
- Resident of the UCLA Faculty Community,
- Resident of the 42nd AD for more than 25 years.

- Founded Public Hospitals Week to protect access to health care for Los Angeles County's uninsured;
- Founded LA County's First Primary Care Scholarship Program to Address Unmet Need in Communities Affected by the Civil Unrest(Koreatown & South Central);

- Elected President of the LA Women's Appointment Collaboration to help community leaders from all sectors, get appointed to LA City, LA County & California State Boards & Commissions;
- Appointed by Rob Reiner to the TA Advisory Board of the California Children & Families Commission;
- Appointed by Governor Gray Davis' to the California Commission for Women where she shepherded equal pay and equal rights legislation, and was thrice-elected First Vice Chair;
- Appointed by Asm. Paul Koretz' (42nd AD), Congresswoman Diane Watson's (30th CD) and Asm. Mike Feuer's (42nd AD) to serve as their representatives to the Democratic State Central Committee;
- Elected Treasurer, and later Vice Chair, of the California Democratic Party Women's Caucus, and So Cal Chair of the California Democratic Party API Caucus;

- Co-founded The Women's Mayoral & Gubernatorial TownHall where she empowered women, and women's organizations, the opportunity to shape the public policy debate;
- Co-founded http://www.SheVotes.org w/ former First Lady Sharon Davis to empower the women's vote.
- Invited by Hon. John Heilman and Hon. Abbe Land to moderate the City of West Hollywood's Human Rights Commission's Forum: "Reproductive Rights a Woman's Right;"
- Won the "Best Campaign Award" for political strategy and presentation at the bipartisan PEW Foundation Campaign Leadership Program;

- Invited to serve on the Emergency Response Team of Clinton/Gore 1996;
- Invited to organize the Women's Tea featuring US Senators Boxer & Feinstein, and the Women's Event featuring Congresswoman Pelosi at DNCC 2000;
- Invited to serve as California Director for Ambassador Moseley Braun for President 2004;
- Appointed to AAPIs for Kerry and Women for Kerry in 2004;
- Elected 30th CD Kerry Delegate to DNCC 2004;
- Invited to organize the DNC Chair Howard Dean's Leadership Roundtable in Los Angeles in 2005;
- Appointed to So Cal Co-Chair of AAPIs for Hillary and Women for Hillary Leadership Council in 2007;
- Elected to 2008 DNCC Rules Committee.