Asian Leaders Honored in Sacramento as a Part of Women’s History Month
By Ras H.Siddiqui
Four California organizations tied to the Asian presence in our Golden State hosted a gala evening at the Stanford Mansion located on N Street in downtown Sacramento on March 25, 2025, to honor Women’s History Month. The four were the California Asian American and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus (AAPILC) who partnered with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA), the California API Legislative Caucus Institute and the Asian Business Association. They banded together and extended an invitation to a diverse group of people to participate in honoring the achievements of California’s Asian American and Pacific Islander women officials in the legislature and administration.
A little less than one-sixth of California’s population is Asian but that has not easily translated to their representation in the corridors of political power in Sacramento. That seems to be changing more recently.
This writer has been a part of observing this change in California for the last 50 years. If one were to hazard a guess, it started with the Japanese American community who felt that one must be a part of the political system and have a direct voice in government or suffer the consequences of depending on others. Overall, Asians have had to struggle like other immigrants in this country. We came here with our heavy accents but did find opportunity and success through hard work. And few had limited success in getting elected. Our kids on the other hand do not have accents and know how to relate better to the mainstream. We are now seeing more of them as elected representatives in California. And not surprisingly, Asian women have become the trailblazers!
The evening started off with two guys with the same first name (Jason) making introductions and handing off to emcee for the evening Khydeeja Alam who did a wonderful job in conducting the program. A Pakistani American, Khydeeja is the Executive Director of CAPIAA. She began by acknowledging that more than one event is being celebrated this month including Persian New Year (Nowruz), Ramadan, and, of course, Women’s History Month.
We are thrilled to have so many distinguished guests and allies and community leaders with us tonight, she said. Amongst the people that she recognized for presence here was Robert Rivas, speaker of the California State Assembly. Khydeeja also recognized the sponsors for the event. Caroline Choi, executive vice president of Public Policy and Corporate Affairs at Southern California Edison and State Assemblymember Mike Fong also took to the podium and said a few words of acknowledgement and encouragement.
The eight Asian women in leadership roles who were honored at this event were individually introduced by the emcee. They were: 1) California’s current State Treasurer, Chinese American Fiona Ma, who was a member of our State Assembly from 2006-2012 and has had other prominent roles in our state; 2) State Senator Dr Aisha Wahab, the first Afghan American woman elected to public office in the United States; 3) Vietnamese American Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen who represents California’s 10th Assembly District; 4) Assemblymember Dr Jasmeet Bains from the 35th Assembly District, the first Sikh American woman elected to California State office; 5) Assemblymember Jessica M. Caloza elected from California’s 52 nd District, the first Filipina elected to the California State Legislature; 6) Indian American Assemblymember Dr Darshana Patel, elected from the 76th Assembly District in northern San Diego County; 7) Senior Counselor to the Governor Amy Tong, a veteran of state government who is now focusing on the Newsom administration’s efforts on improving government efficiencies and innovative government solutions in the state; and 8) Hawaii-born Filipino American Cabinet Secretary Nani Coloretti who was once the Deputy Director at the United States Office of Management and Budget.
One can add that their first major achievement was getting to where they are today. All of them had their own backgrounds and stories to share at this event. And some had to overcome both cultural and societal barriers to get to their current positions. But now they have reached the corridors of power here in California, adding their voices, and that is a cause for celebration. As one honoree said (with a slight change of a word here), “women get stuff done.”
