Supervisor Connie Chan (S4E40P2)

In this podcast, Connie picks up where she left off in Part 1. After living in San Francisco for about five years, she decided to go to UC Davis. While at college, she rode a bike for the first time, a story she shares with us. She majored in religious studies and classical Chinese. Both subjects were of interest for Connie; they didn't necessarily constitute a post-graduation or career plan. After her time in Davis, she came back to The City and spent some time trying to figure out her direction. Initially, translation work drew her in. She found a volunteer gig translating for the SF Bar Association, and one of her first jobs was translating for a pro-bono tenants attorney. She shares the story of her work that day, and, as you'll see, it ended up setting her off on a purposeful path. ​Having that experience of helping people bridge differences with the context of deeper cultural understanding, Connie now had a reason to wake up in the morning—in her own words, she "loves" to sleep. Connie worked on a few campaigns here in town over the years—in 2007 to help get Kamala Harris re-elected district attorney; in 2015, she helped Aaron Peskin resume his old office of D3 supervisor, which is Chinatown, North Beach, and a few other neighborhoods. She met her partner (they'd known each other since they were 16) when she was 26. He was a bartender at North Star and Connie lived next door. Today, they have an eight-year-old son. Around the time then-D1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer was up for re-election, she called Connie. Connie thought Sandy was going to tell her that she was running for mayor. Instead, Sandy asked Connie if she wanted to run to replace her on the Board of Supervisors in District 1. She talks about the process of deciding to go for it, all the people, friends, family, and community members she talked with, and the actual work of fighting a tough battle. Ultimately, she prevailed, narrowly, and assumed office in January 2021. We end the podcast with Connie's thoughts on what it means to still be here. Photography by Michelle Kilfeather