Dr. Suja Lowenthal

Biography

Dr. Suja Lowenthal was born in Madras, India. In 1975, her mother came to United States in 1975 under a recruitment program, which provided green card residency status to qualified nurses.

• In 1977, at the age of seven she immigrated with her father to the States to join her mother.
• 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 1993, Suja joined the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging, coordinating the Meals-on-Wheels program, preparing the departmental budget and administering its grant dollars.
• In 1995, she worked for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office as the Coordinator of its Domestic Violence Unit, providing education and training to thousands of students and officials in Los Angeles schools, city agencies, community organizations and law enforcement divisions.
• In 1998, she joined the Central Basin Municipal Water District and West Basin Municipal Water District as the agencies' Government Affairs Manager.
• 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. The award is given annually to a school district that has made the greatest strides in narrowing educational achievement gaps across ethnic groups and between high and low-income students.
• In 2005, Suja served as the Chief of Strategic Planning & Initiatives for the Water Replenishment District of Southern California.
• In 2007, she joined the Geological Sciences faculty as an Adjunct Professor at California State University, Long Beach, teaching an upper-division class on California’s water supply, water-pricing and best practices for water management.
• In October 2008, she entered the private sector as Director of Business Development at MWH Americas Inc., a company that provides consulting, engineering, construction and management services in water, natural resources, and infrastructure.

Organizations & experience in the community:

• Dr. Suja has been active in Long Beach Affordable Housing Commission, YMCA of Long Beach, Long Beach Area Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Council, Long Beach Downtown Development Task Force, Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council, Aquarium of the Pacific Watershed Curriculum Steering Committee, Long Beach Human Relations Project and the National Conference for Community and Justice.
• She has combined her experience in the community and on the school board with her education in business and planning to address issues such as parking, public safety, air & water quality and commercial development through sustainable, long-term policies.
• She is also strongly committed to providing a “back to basics” approach in response to neighborhood issues such as blight, graffiti, broken sidewalks, noise ordinance enforcement, tree trimming and potholes.

IN 2006,SHE WAS elected to represent the 2nd District in a special election. In 2008, the remaining two years of former Councilmember Dan Baker’s term, she ran unopposed and was re-elected to a four-year term in June 2008.& She lives in the Rose Park Historic District with her son Avi.

• Suja Joseph Lowenthal