Jocelyn Yow

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Jocelyn Yow (born 1995) is a Malaysian Chinese Vietnamese American politician who currently serves as city councilmember of District 4 in Eastvale, California (December 2018-present). [1] [2] She also serves as the Legislative Advocacy Director at IGNITE National, a non-profit organization that works to elect young women into office. [3] On December 10, 2020, Yow was sworn in as mayor of Eastvale, making her the youngest woman of color (25 years old at the time) to serve as mayor in a California city. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Yow was born in San Jose, California. [5] She is the daughter of a Chinese-Malaysian father and Vietnamese refugee mother. [5] Her father grew up in a small village in Malaysia and moved from the United States in the 1980s to pursue engineering at the University of Arizona, becoming the first from his village to go there. [4] [5] [6] Her mother grew up in Vietnam but fled to a refugee camp in Malaysia as a result of the Vietnam War. [5] Thereafter, she moved to the United States where she met Yow's father. [5] When Yow was one year old, her family moved from the United States to Kedah, Malaysia, in order to take care of her ill grandfather. [5] During her time there, she studied at SMJK Keat Hwa in Alor Setar. [5] As a kid, she joined several service-oriented organizations through her parent's guidance such as Lions Club, the World Association of Girl Guides, and Girl Scouts. [6] She learned English through watching American media such as Disney Channel, HBO, and Hallmark. [7] However, she is also a native speaker of Chinese and Malay. [2] In 2011 (age 16), she moved back to the US, settling in Eastvale, California in hopes of attending college. [5] A few years later (2014), she graduated from Norco College with an associate degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. [8] There, she was a member of the Honors Program and Alpha Gamma Sigma. [8] She was also the youngest student body president and served as student commencement speaker. [8] [7] She then transferred to UC Berkeley and earned a bachelor's degree. [8] [1] [3] Recently, she earned her master's degree in Government from Harvard Extension School. [4] [5] [3]  

Political career

Prior to running for city council, Yow was a district representative for the California State Senate and an immigration specialist at the United States House of Representatives. [1] [4] [2] [9] Yow also served as staffer to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Gil Cisneros. [2] [9]

In 2018, she ran for Eastvale City Council at the age of 23. [6] She won a seat on the city council by a 40-point margin and became the first woman of color to become an Eastvale city councilmember. [3] She was also the first Malaysian American to hold a position in public office in the United States. [5] She was then appointed as mayor on December 10, 2020, becoming the youngest woman of color in a California city to do so. [3]

Her main goal as mayor was to implement Eastvale's first library. [9] She successfully secured $2.5 of the $30 million necessary for this project in private funding which starts building in 2023. [10] As mayor, she also secured $8 million in funding for Eastvale's police station, spearheaded the Eastvale Little Library project, and served as advisor of the Eastvale Youth Council. [11]

In 2021, Yow served as Policy Manager at IGNITE National. [12] She was later promoted to Legislative Advocacy Director. [3]

In 2022, Yow ran for re-election in District 4 of Eastvale, winning by 69.77% of the votes. [13] She was endorsed by elected officials such as Corona City Former Mayor/Councilmember Jacque Casillas, Jurupa Valley Mayor Chris Barajas, and several others [11] . 

Awards

In 2019, Yow was awarded the Alumnus of the Year Award by Norco College in addition to being a scholarship donor. [8] She also earned the Rising Star Award from the California Democratic Party, Asian Pacific Islander Caucus. [2]

Personal life

Yow is a survivor of intimate partner violence. [14] From this relationship, she had a son, Kayden, in May 2020. [5] She is a single mother. [15]

Yow has a younger brother. [16]

She hopes to become a community college professor in the near future as it is a system that benefited her and her family greatly. [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 City of Eastvale. "Councilmember Jocelyn Yow | City of Eastvale, CA". www.eastvaleca.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Youngest mayor in California surprised at reception of her appointment in Malaysia". Malay Mail Online. 16 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 IGNITE (29 January 2017). "Jocelyn Yow, Legislative Advocacy Director". ignitenational.org. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 KCal News (2020-12-10). "25-Year-Old Jocelyn Yow Is Youngest Woman Of Color to Serve As A Mayor In California - CBS Los Angeles". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Nazari, Tasneem (2020-12-13). "Jocelyn Yow Is The Malaysian-Vietnamese-American Woman Who Has Been Elected As A US Mayor". The Rakyat Post. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  6. 1 2 3 APAICS. "Jocelyn Yow". APAICS. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  7. 1 2 Vergara, Allyson (2021-12-14). "Trailblazing Eastvale Council Member Jocelyn Yow aims to boost diversity in politics". Press Enterprise. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Meza, Diana (10 December 2020). "Norco College Alumni, Jocelyn Yow, Becomes State of California's Youngest Woman of Color to Serve As Mayor". www.norcocollege.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  9. 1 2 3 4 BallotBreakers (2018-07-29). "Jocelyn Yow, 23". Ballot Breakers. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  10. ↑ IGNITE (11 July 2022). "Jocelyn Yow—Building a Library And More for Young Families on Eastvale City Council in California". ignitenational.org. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  11. 1 2 Yow, Jocelyn. "Re-Elect Jocelyn Yow for Eastvale City Council". Re-Elect Jocelyn Yow for Eastvale City Council. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  12. ↑ Semaan, Deshani (28 May 2021). "The Asian American experience". ignitenational.org. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  13. ↑ "Final Official Election Results Consolidated General Election November 8, 2022". County of Riverside Registrar of Voters. 8 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Yow, Jocelyn. "Jocelyn Yow, Author at Ms. Magazine". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  15. ↑ "'The Power of Mom': Jocelyn Yow". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  16. ↑ Vengadesan, Martin (2020-12-16). "Meet Jocelyn Yow – the California mayor who considers Alor Setar her hometown". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
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