Mark Takano

Contribute Now:

Born and raised in Riverside, Mark Takano went to school in the Alvord Unified School District. He attended La Sierra High School where he played football and wrestled at the junior varsity level. It was here that Mark's passion for public service and learning flourished and in 1979 he graduated as the school's valedictorian.

Mark attended Harvard College and received his bachelor's degree in Government in 1983. During his senior year, he organized and co-founded Ride for Life, a transcontinental bicycle ride to benefit the international development agency Oxfam America. Upon graduation, Mark worked as a substitute teacher for various public school systems in the Boston area. He observed first-hand the disparity between well-funded and acclaimed suburban schools in Brookline and the beleaguered inner-city Boston schools.

Mark returned to his home town and attended the University of California, at Riverside's School of Education intern program to obtain his secondary teaching credential in Language Arts and Social Studies. He began teaching in the Rialto Unified School District in 1988 in schools serving predominantly Latino and African American students. He has remained a classroom teacher since that time, confronting the challenges in our public education system daily.

In 1990, Mark was elected to the Riverside Community College District's Board of Trustees, finishing first among eleven candidates competing for two seats. Mark was elected Board President in 1991 and helped the Board and the District gain stability and direction amid serious fiscal challenges. As a Trustee, Mark helped oversee the transition of the District's Norco and Moreno Valley campuses to become independent colleges.

He has won re-election to the Board in 1995, 1999, 2004 and 2008.

Mark's long history of public service in Riverside County includes roles on the Community Advisory Board of the Children's Spine Foundation and the Board of the Chancellor's Asian Pacific Islander Community Advisory Center at the University of California, Riverside. He has served as chairman of the Riverside Mayor's Task Force on the Digital Divide, Chairman of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the California Democratic Party, a charter member of the Association of Latino Community College Trustees, a member of the Association of California Asian American Trustees and a member of Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education. He is a recipient of the Martin Luther King Visionaries Award.

In 1992, at the age of 31, Mark defeated a crowded field of six opponents to win the Democratic nomination for then California's 43rd Congressional District. Mark's underdog campaign went on to lose the General Election by fewer than 550 votes in one of the closest Congressional Elections in California history.

We're proud to support Mark in this campaign and urge you to help elect the first openly LGBT person of color to serve in the U.S. Congress. Give to his groundbreaking campaign today.