The Honorable Ellen Kamei is one of our 2021 Rising Stars. She serves as the Mayor of the City of Mountain View, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. A third generation Mountain View resident, Ellen is the daughter of a Chinese and Puerto Rican American mother and a Japanese American father born at Heart Mountain Internment Camp.
Ellen is passionate about youth and civic engagement, mental health services, and social equity. She chairs the City of Mountain View Ad-Hoc Committee on Race, Diversity, and Inclusion as well as the City’s Youth Services Subcommittee.
She is a member of various boards and commissions including: Vice President of the League of California Cities Women’s Caucus, the Peninsula Division Executive Committee for the League of California Cities, and is a board member on the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC). Her professional experience includes over a decade of experience at every level of government, local, state, and federal, as well as political campaigns. Ellen also has experience in the classroom as a former English Teacher for Kindergarten, Elementary, and Middle Schoolers.
Ellen completed her M.P.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, B.A. from UC Santa Barbara, and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State and Local Government. Pronouns: she/her