Suja Lowenthal

Dr. Suja Lowenthal was elected to represent the 2nd District in a special election held on June 6th, 2006.  After serving the remaining two years of former Councilmember Dan Baker’s term, she ran unopposed and was re-elected to a four-year term in June 2008.   Suja was born in Madras, India.  Her mother came to the United States in 1975, and two years later she immigrated with her father to the United States to join her mother.   She went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Economics from UCLA; a Master's in Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles; and a Doctorate in Policy, Planning and Development from USC.
In 1993, Suja joined the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging, coordinating the Meals-on-Wheels program, preparing the departmental budget and administering its grant dollars.  In 1995, she worked for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office as the Coordinator of its Domestic Violence Unit.  In 1998, she joined the Central Basin Municipal Water District and West Basin Municipal Water District as the agencies' Government Affairs Manager.  In 2005, Suja served as the Chief of Strategic Planning & Initiatives for the Water Replenishment District of Southern California.  In 2007, she joined the Geological Sciences faculty as an Adjunct Professor at California State University, Long Beach, teaching an upper-division class on California’s water supply, water-pricing and best practices for water management.  In October 2008, she entered the private sector as Director of Business Development at MWH Americas Inc., a company that provides consulting, engineering, construction and management services in water, natural resources, and infrastructure.
In 2001, Suja was elected to represent the 3rd District of the Board of Education in Long Beach Unified School District.  During her five years on the Board, Suja led the effort to create safe and secure schools, reduce the achievement gap for minority students and get children off of buses and back into their neighborhood schools.  In May 2007, Suja was appointed as an alternate to the California Coastal Commission, a body that helps plan and regulate the use of land and water in the state’s coastal zone.  In 2008, she was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a consortium of 26 cities and water districts responsible for providing high quality and reliable drinking water to nearly 18 million in Los Angeles and surrounding counties.  Suja also serves on the Board of Heal the Bay and as an alternate on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission Governing Board.

Suja has been active in several local community organizations including the Long Beach Affordable Housing Commission, YMCA of Long Beach, Long Beach Area Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Council, Long Beach Downtown Development Task Force, Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council, Aquarium of the Pacific Watershed Curriculum Steering Committee, Long Beach Human Relations Project and the National Conference for Community and Justice.