About AAA-Fund — Northern California
According to a 2005 U.S. Census Bureau study, Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) have significantly increased their potential power at the polls in California in recent years. The number of APAs in California eligible to register to vote (citizens who are 18 and older) increased by half a million between 2000 and 2005, from 2 million to 2.5 million. That increased their share from 10 percent to 12 percent of the state's population of eligible voters.
The mission of the Asian American Action Fund's Northern California Chapter is to encourage APA Democrats to participate in the political process and to empower the APA community so that we can address the severe under-representation of APAs in the political life of this country.
The Asian American Action Fund achieves its goals by identifying qualified Democratic candidates, providing them with financial and technical assistance, and building a local network of activists, funders, and supporters. Our membership makes this possible.
AAA-Fund members join by making a contribution to the Fund and pledging to contribute to the candidates we endorse. Through our membership, the AAA-Fund empowers our candidates with the tools, financial resources, and grassroots assistance they need for victory.
Executive Committee Biographies
Kiran Jain (Northern California Chapter Chair): Kiran Jain is Deputy City Attorney of land use and development in Oakland's City Attorney's Office, primarily practicing land use and environmental law. Previously, she was an associate at Bingham McCutchen, where she focused on finance, environmental, land use and real estate law. She was also a member of the firm's pro bono and diversity committees. During the 2004 presidential election, Kiran assisted the Lawyers' Committee on Civil Rights Under Law in representing Ohio voters pro hac vice in a successful voting rights lawsuit against Ohio's Secretary of State regarding illegal absentee voting practices. In 2005 and 2006, she served as staff to the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act that conducted regional hearings throughout the nation to assess continued voter discrimination, which culminated into a congressional report, entitled "Protecting Minority Voters: The Voting Rights Act at Work, 1982-2005."
Kiran serves on the Advisory Board of Kiva.org, a peer-to-peer microlending organization, which she has provided counsel to before its inception in 2005. She is immediate past president of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California, a director of the Asian Law Caucus and former director and officer of the Barristers Club of the Bar Association of San Francisco. Kiran received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University, and an A.B. in Economics from Barnard College.
Marybelle C. Ang (AAA-Fund Board Member and Northern California Chapter Vice-Chair): Marybelle Ang is an energy Attorney at The Utility Reform Network, an organization that advocates on behalf of California's utility consumers. Prior to joining T.U.R.N., Marybelle worked at a large California utility, and also practiced energy law at the U.S. Department Energy and Kirkland & Ellis in Washington, D.C. Marybelle has served as an elected representative on environmental issues for one of Los Angeles' neighborhood councils, and was on the Boards of the Organization of Chinese Americans (Los Angeles Chapter) and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association in Washington, D.C. Marybelle is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and Stanford University.
Gautam Dutta (AAA-Fund Executive Director and Northern California Chapter Vice-Chair): A Yale and Georgetown-educated lawyer, Gautam Dutta specializes in corporate, securities, regulatory/public entity, election, and voting rights law. He has been an enforcement attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), tax counsel to California State Controller John Chiang, a commercial litigator at the Los Angeles firm of Buchalter Nemer, and law clerk for a federal judge in Washington, D.C. Between 2007 and 2010, Mr. Dutta was Deputy Director of the Political Reform Program at the New America Foundation. That program educated opinion leaders and the public about electoral alternatives (including Instant Runoff Voting and Proportional Representation). In this capacity, Mr. Dutta worked closely with the Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Pasadena City Councils. Last spring, Mr. Dutta wrote an amicus brief in federal court that successfully defended San Francisco's innovative Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) system. Furthermore, he drafted and spearheaded legislative strategy for IRV bills in both the California Senate and Assembly.
Throughout his career, Mr. Dutta has played a prominent role in civic affairs. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed him to the position of commissioner on the Los Angeles Industrial Development Authority, which he served in from 2006 to 2007. Between 2005 and 2010, Mr. Dutta served on the Board of the American Civil Liberties Union (Southern California), where he was elected to the Executive Board. A prolific writer and political commentator, Mr. Dutta has been featured and quoted in top media outlets, including Los Angeles Daily News, Boston Globe, Associated Press, Huffington Post, Politico, and AAA-Fund Blog (of which he is Publisher).
In Washington, D.C., Mr. Dutta was President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund, as well as Vice Chair of the District of Columbia's Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Political Monthly, and is fluent in Spanish, German, Hindi, and Bengali. He received his undergraduate degree in economics and German literature from Yale University and his law degree from Georgetown University. He is a member of the State Bar of California, the South Asian Bar Association, and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
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