Misplaced Pages

Jocelyn Yow

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Not to be confused with Joscelin Yeo.

Jocelyn Yow (born 1995) is a Malaysian Chinese Vietnamese American politician who currently serves as city councilmember of District 4 in Eastvale, California (December 2018-present). She also serves as the Legislative Advocacy Director at IGNITE National, a non-profit organization that works to elect young women into office. On December 10, 2020, Yow was sworn in as mayor of Eastvale, making her the youngest woman of color (25 years old at the time) to serve as mayor in a California city.

Early life and education

Yow was born in San Jose, California. She is the daughter of a Chinese-Malaysian father and Vietnamese refugee mother. Her father grew up in a small village in Malaysia and moved from the United States in the 1980s to pursue engineering at the University of Arizona, becoming the first from his village to go there. Her mother grew up in Vietnam but fled to a refugee camp in Malaysia as a result of the Vietnam War. Thereafter, she moved to the United States where she met Yow's father. When Yow was one year old, her family moved from the United States to Kedah, Malaysia, in order to take care of her ill grandfather. During her time there, she studied at SMJK Keat Hwa in Alor Setar. As a kid, she joined several service-oriented organizations through her parents' guidance such as Lions Club, the World Association of Girl Guides, and Girl Scouts. She learned English through watching American media such as Disney Channel, HBO, and Hallmark. However, she is also a native speaker of Chinese and Malay. In 2011 (age 16), she moved back to the US, settling in Eastvale, California in hopes of attending college. A few years later (2014), she graduated from Norco College with an associate degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. There, she was a member of the Honors Program and Alpha Gamma Sigma. She was also the youngest student body president and served as student commencement speaker. She then transferred to UC Berkeley and earned a bachelor's degree. Recently, she earned her master's degree in Government from Harvard Extension School.  

Political career

Prior to running for city council, Yow was a district representative for the California State Senate and an immigration specialist at the United States House of Representatives. Yow also served as staffer to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Gil Cisneros.

In 2018, she ran for Eastvale City Council at the age of 23. She won a seat on the city council by a 40-point margin and became the first woman of color to become an Eastvale city councilmember. She was also the first Malaysian American to hold a position in public office in the United States. She was then appointed as mayor on December 10, 2020, becoming the youngest woman of color in a California city to do so.

Her main goal as mayor was to implement Eastvale's first library. She successfully secured $2.5 of the $30 million necessary for this project in private funding which starts building in 2023. As mayor, she also secured $8 million in funding for Eastvale's police station, spearheaded the Eastvale Little Library project, and served as advisor of the Eastvale Youth Council.

In 2021, Yow served as Policy Manager at IGNITE National. She was later promoted to Legislative Advocacy Director.

In 2022, Yow ran for re-election in District 4 of Eastvale, winning by 69.77% of the votes. She was endorsed by elected officials such as Corona City Former Mayor/Councilmember Jacque Casillas, Jurupa Valley Mayor Chris Barajas, and several others . 

Awards

In 2019, Yow was awarded the Alumnus of the Year Award by Norco College in addition to being a scholarship donor. She also earned the Rising Star Award from the California Democratic Party, Asian Pacific Islander Caucus.

Personal life

Yow is a survivor of intimate partner violence. From this relationship, she had a son, Kayden, in May 2020. She is a single mother.

Yow has a younger brother.

She hopes to become a community college professor in the near future as it is a system that benefited her and her family greatly.

References

  1. ^ City of Eastvale. "Councilmember Jocelyn Yow | City of Eastvale, CA". www.eastvaleca.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-11-15. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  2. ^ "Youngest mayor in California surprised at reception of her appointment in Malaysia". Malay Mail Online. 16 December 2020. ProQuest 2470600844.
  3. ^ IGNITE (29 January 2017). "Jocelyn Yow, Legislative Advocacy Director". ignitenational.org. Archived from the original on 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  4. ^ KCal News (2020-12-10). "25-Year-Old Jocelyn Yow Is Youngest Woman Of Color to Serve As A Mayor In California - CBS Los Angeles". www.cbsnews.com. Archived from the original on 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  5. ^ Nazari, Tasneem (2020-12-13). "Jocelyn Yow Is The Malaysian-Vietnamese-American Woman Who Has Been Elected As A US Mayor". The Rakyat Post. Archived from the original on 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  6. ^ APAICS. "Jocelyn Yow". APAICS. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  7. ^ Vergara, Allyson (2021-12-14). "Trailblazing Eastvale Council Member Jocelyn Yow aims to boost diversity in politics". Press Enterprise. Archived from the original on 2023-11-15. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  8. ^ Meza, Diana (10 December 2020). "Norco College Alumni, Jocelyn Yow, Becomes State of California's Youngest Woman of Color to Serve As Mayor". www.norcocollege.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  9. ^ BallotBreakers (2018-07-29). "Jocelyn Yow, 23". Ballot Breakers. Archived from the original on 2023-12-16. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  10. IGNITE (11 July 2022). "Jocelyn Yow—Building a Library And More for Young Families on Eastvale City Council in California". ignitenational.org. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  11. ^ Yow, Jocelyn. "Re-Elect Jocelyn Yow for Eastvale City Council". Re-Elect Jocelyn Yow for Eastvale City Council. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  12. Semaan, Deshani (28 May 2021). "The Asian American experience". ignitenational.org. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  13. "Final Official Election Results Consolidated General Election November 8, 2022". County of Riverside Registrar of Voters. 8 November 2022. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  14. Yow, Jocelyn. "Jocelyn Yow, Author at Ms. Magazine". Ms. Magazine. Archived from the original on 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  15. "'The Power of Mom': Jocelyn Yow". spectrumnews1.com. Archived from the original on 2023-12-19. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  16. Vengadesan, Martin (2020-12-16). "Meet Jocelyn Yow – the California mayor who considers Alor Setar her hometown". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
Categories:
Jocelyn Yow Add topic