NRI Suja Joseph Lowenthal, Elected Vice-Mayor of Long Beach

Long Beach,California, Aug 18, 2010
Dilip Butani

On Tuesday, July 27, 2010, members of the Long Beach City Council unanimously selected Suja Joseph Lowenthal, representative of the Second Council District as the City’s Vice Mayor. Lowenthal has been a member of the City Council since 2006, where she has championed issues to increase parking, promote a culture of bicycling, reduce noise pollution, improve air and water quality, increase international business with the Port of Long Beach, revitalize downtown and become a more sustainable city.

As Vice Mayor, Lowenthal is responsible for facilitating City Council meetings and representing the City of Long Beach at special events, when the mayor is unable to attend.

Originally from Kerala, India, Lowenthal came to the United States with her family at the age of seven. She went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Economics from UCLA, a Master's in Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles and a Doctorate in Policy, Planning and Development from USC.

In 2001, Suja was elected to represent the 3rd District of the Board of Education in Long Beach Unified School District. During her five years on the Board, Suja led the effort to create safe and secure schools, reduce the achievement gap for minority students and get children off of buses and back into their neighborhood schools. In 2003-04, Long Beach Unified School District was recognized as the best urban school district in the nation by the Broad Foundation.

In 2008, Vice Mayor Lowenthal led a delegation of government, education and business leaders on trade mission to India. The 25-member delegation included representatives from the City of Long Beach, the Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles World Airports, and business representatives from major corporations that included AECOM, Clean Energy, CSULB, KPMG, and Paramount Studios.

Vice Mayor Lowenthal will be traveling to India to attend family weddings from August 25th through September 15th.

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