Nancy Skinner is the Assemblymember from California's 14th Assembly District. She is a Democrat. She has served as a member of the East Bay Regional Park Board, Ward 1 since 2006. She had previously founded and worked for several non-profit groups on global warming and other issues related to environmental policy. Skinner was a member of the Berkeley City Council from 1984-1992.^[1] She ran unopposed in the general election for California Assembly in the 14th district which was held by incumbent Loni Hancock who was termed out.

[edit] Early political career

Skinner attended the University of California, Berkeley and earned a B.S. from the College of Natural Resources. She earned a Masters in Education from the UC Berkeley School of Education. As a student, she was a leader in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and a founder of ASGE, the Union of Graduate Student Employees.^[1] Skinner later taught courses in native California plants and interned at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.^[2]

Skinner served on the Berkeley City Council from 1984-1992. She was elected while she was attending Berkeley and is the last student to be elected to the council.^[1][3] During her time on the council, she helped establish Eastshore State Park. She pushed for Berkeley to become the first city in the United States to have a 50% recycling goal. She authored legislation to ban styrofoam at fast food businesses, the first such legislation in the U.S.^[1]

[edit] Environmental, education, and political activism

After serving on the City Council, Skinner worked in several non-profit organizations concerning the environment. She founded ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and Cities for Climate Protection to help cities with environmental and global warming policy respectively. She was the US director of The Climate Group, an international organization that works with businesses to address global warming. She coauthored the best selling book series Fifty Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. She has written a pair of articles concerning global warming for the San Francisco Chronicle. Skinner was an active member in PTA, helping campaign for a parcel tax to fund Berkeley schools. She was Chair of the Berkeley School Enrichment Program Committee at Martin Luther King Jr. High School. She is married with one daughter.^[1]

Skinner coordinated Loni Hancock's 2002 State Assembly campaign and was a Field Manager for Barbara Lee's 2002 Congressional campaign. She has worked for the campaigns of several local, state, and national democratic candidates that include Al Gore and John Kerry.^[1]

[edit] Recent political career

Skinner was appointed to the East Bay Regional Park Board in March 2006 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of incumbent Jean Siri. She was appointed by a 6-0 vote and beat several other candidates for the position that included former Berkeley mayor Shirley Dean.^[4] Skinner was elected to the East Bay Regional Park Board in 2006 with 84% of the vote. Her park district includes parts of Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Kensington, Richmond, San Pablo, part of Pinole & Oakland.^[1]

Skinner was considered a likely candidate for the State Assembly since as early as 2006 and had previously considered a run in 2002.^[5][6] She announced her candidacy in late January 2008. She ran against Richmond Councilmember Tony Thurmond, Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington, and Berkeley resident Dr. Phil Polakoff.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Assembly Campaign Site
• California, low-carbon leader by Nancy Skinner
• 'Green' work can grow corporate bottom lines by Nancy Skinner and Martin Uden