Asian American Studies alumna shares her journey from UC Berkeley student government to Santa Clara County supervisor

May 1, 2025

By Jessica Park

Asian American Studies alumna Betty Duong’s time at UC Berkeley fostered free thinking and honed in the skills she uses today as a Santa Clara County supervisor. Cal opened her world to diverse perspectives, helping her realize that anyone could participate in political and civic engagement.

Last year, she became the first Vietnamese American and Asian American woman to be elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. As a daughter of refugees who was raised on county and government services, she takes pride in adding a different voice to the table.

Supervisor Duong has over a decade of experience working at the County of Santa Clara, where she successfully launched the language access policy that guarantees translation services to community members. She also helped create the Vietnamese American Service Center that addresses social and health disparities.

She spoke to UC Berkeley Social Sciences about her journey and offered advice for students interested in politics.

Please tell us more about your background and career.

Betty Duong: I'm currently the Santa Clara County Supervisor representing District Two — which is the best district in the world. I was born and raised in San José. My mom and dad came here as refugees in 1979 as clients of the county's refugee resettlement program. I was born at the county hospital, and my siblings and I were all raised on county services and programs. It was really what was necessary for our family to be able to rebuild and replant new roots in America.

My first job in government and constituent services was for the state legislature with former Assembly Member Joe Coto, who was chair of the Latino Caucus and represented the district I grew up in. It really gave me my love for local government. Even though it was the State Assembly, I was working at the local level and interacting with constituents and communities in a way that could result in change.

For the last 11 years, I've been working at the County of Santa Clara, starting with Supervisor Cindy Chavez's office for about six years. For five years, I spent time working for the County Executive Office. During that time, I helped launch the language access policy, served as the program manager that led the Vietnamese American Service Center, and served as the founding manager of the county's Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. Fast forward to 2023, I decided to run for county supervisor, and was elected in 2024. I have the distinct privilege of being the first Vietnamese American to serve on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and the first Asian American woman to be appointed to the board.

How did your time at UC Berkeley prepare you for your career?

Betty Duong: In so many ways, Cal gave me so much: my lifelong friends, my lifelong support network, my mentors — Khatharya Um, an Ethnic Studies professor and Berkeley Social Sciences associate dean. I transferred to UC Berkeley after I went to De Anza College. In terms of preparation, Cal was such a supportive environment for free thinking. It was such an incredible space for discourse, debate and discussion with people that didn't see the world the same way I did. I feel like that's where I honed a lot of my skills for that. As an ASUC senator, I was part of the team that put together the first Southeast Asian commencement and graduated in the class of 2005.

My whole world opened when I went to Cal, to just experience, meet and engage with people from all different walks of life. It helped reinforce, for me, that political and civic engagement is open to everybody. At De Anza College, it was just the beginning, igniting my curiosity about the world. It was helping me identify issues. At Cal, I really learned about applying ideas and solutions to the problems we were seeing, and being able to learn from others. In practice, I really feel that has been my career here in Santa Clara County.

What advice do you have for Berkeley Social Sciences graduates that want to pursue successful careers in politics?

Betty Duong: I would say number one, be prepared and understand the value of meeting as many people as possible. Find excitement in meeting new friends or people and hearing about their perspective and where they come from. There's not a single person in my life that does not have an interesting background. Every human has their own story.

And I think whether in politics or policy; it is, at the end of the day, the study of human behavior and the exploration of solutions to arrive at better outcomes. What makes the community thrive? What's holding people back? What is it that they need to be successful? How is success defined? I think something in public policy and politics is that everybody has a different idea of what success looks like for a particular neighborhood or community. And I really feel that the most appropriate approach is to ask the persons affected, how do you see success for yourself? I don't feel like we do enough of that.

I think that level of flexibility and that openness to learn and to see the holes in your own argument, is going to be a huge benefit to anyone who wants to be in public policy or in politics. Be in the practice of kindness and honesty. Politics is not about screaming and fighting with each other. It's not about press conferences or photo ops. Politics, at the end of the day, is just the study of human beings and communities.

When I ran for office, it was my first time ever running for any elected office. I had huge support from my college friends who have not seen me in 10 to 15 years. All these people had such positive memories of me being just a good, decent human being who was strong in her convictions, but also open minded to debate, discourse and discussion. I think whatever path you choose in life, being kind is a key thing.

One last piece of advice is pay attention to everything — your local politics, local engagement — because it directly impacts, and is impacted, by what's happening at the state level and federal level. All my proposals and visions are at the local level, but that's informed by what's happening at the state and federal level. Whatever level of government you want to be a part of, you can't isolate yourself in just that one level.

What do you enjoy most as a Santa Clara County Supervisor?

Betty Duong: I really enjoy getting to be a different voice at the table — the perspective that I carry as the daughter of refugees, as someone who was raised on county and government services, and as someone who has worked at the county for the last 11 years. I really enjoy getting to add my perspective to the discussion that would determine the outcomes of investments, budgeting and changes. I take great pride in that. This room has not heard from a Vietnamese American woman before in this way. So, I get to add that level of representation of East Side San José and of an immigrant background.

I also enjoy getting to meet so many people. It's the only other time in my life where I got to meet as many people as I did in college. Between college and elected office, those years, your world really shrinks to your colleagues, your co-workers, friends and your family. In this role, people are eager to tell me what's happening in their neighborhood, the good and the bad. And that is just incredible to me — both fascinating on a personal level, but then also empowering as an elected official — that this is what I need to know and understand to be able to make the right decisions.

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