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Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga is wearing a light pink blazer smiling and looking to the right.

Margaret Abe-Koga

County Supervisor, District 5

Overview

Margaret was born at Stanford Hospital and raised in San Mateo by immigrant parents from Japan. As her parents were limited in English, Margaret became their translator as soon as she learned English.  It was through this experience where she saw struggle, discrimination, and injustice when one does not have a voice society, and it compelled her to pursue a path where she could serve the community and work to ensure that all people regardless of background have a voice in our communities.  She attended public schools K-12 and went on to Harvard University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in government in 1992.
After graduation, Margaret joined Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s district office staff.  

She began her elected service as Trustee for Area 1 on Santa Clara County Board of Education and served as Board Vice-President in 2004.  She was then elected to the Mountain View City Council in 2006.  She served as Vice-Mayor in 2008 and 2019, and as Mayor for the first time in 2009, making her the first Asian American female to serve in those capacities in Mountain View's history.  She served a second term as Mayor in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.  She was re-elected in 2020 and served a total of four terms.  

On the City Council, Margaret championed the issues of public safety, transportation, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, youth and families and health and wellness.  

In addition to her City Council service, Margaret has served on several regional bodies including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission; the Bay Area Air Quality Management District; the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board which she chaired two times: the Valley Transportation Authority(VTA); President of the Santa Clara County Cities Association includes: the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Agency; the Santa Clara County Emergency Operational Area Council, and on the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission.

She also chaired the VTA Board of Directors of 2011 where she led the agency to financial solvency through the economic downturn and worked to maintain and continue progress on capital projects like the BART extension, light rail improvements and the Bus Rapid Transit system.  

In 2012, Margaret was appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board overseeing water quality issues in the Bay Area.

In addition to elected and appointed service, Margaret has been active in the community. She has served on the boards of  CHAC – Community Health Awareness Council, Charities Housing – a non-profit affordable housing developer, the League of Conservation Voters, Carbon Free Mountain View, the Housing Trust of Silicon Valley, Avenidas Senior Services, the Mountain View Sister Cities Association, the Silicon Valley Japanese American Chamber of Commerce, the Japanese American Citizens League San Mateo Chapter, Vice-Chair of the Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association and President of the San Jose Taiko Board.

Margaret’s work experience outside of public service includes serving as Associate Director of the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI) at De Anza College from 1999-2001 and 2005-2006.  Margaret also owned and ran a small business– an indoor cycling fitness facility – before taking leave from the business to raise her children.  From 2012-2014, She held the position of Foundation and Corporate Relations Manager for Asian Americans for Community Involvement, the largest non-profit health and human services agency focused on the Asian community.  In 2015, she was District Director for California State Assemblymember Evan Low of the 28th District, and from 2016-2017 worked for Synopsys Corporation as a government affairs manager.

For her leadership, Margaret has been recognized with various awards including:

  • Working Partnerships USA Champion for Change 2014
  • South Bay Labor Council AFL-CIO Rookie of the Year Award 2011
  • Silicon Valley Business Journal's Top 100 Women of Influence, 2010
  • Mountain View Chamber of Commerce Athena Award, 2010
  • Association of American University Women Los Altos Mountain View Chapter's Woman of the Year 2009
  • California Assembly's Woman of the Year for Assembly District 22, selected by Assemblymember Paul Fong, 2009
  • Silicon Valley Business Journal's Top 40 under 40 years of age, 2008
  • Asian Americans for Community Involvement Youth Achievement Award 2004
  • Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss' Asian American Hero Award, 2001

Margaret is also a member of the American Leadership Forum Class XXII, an Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI) Senior Fellow, U.S. Japan Council member, a graduate of the Working Partnerships Leadership Institute and Leadership Mountain View.

Margaret and her husband Yotto have two college aged daughters, Aili and Aina. For her hobbies, Margaret enjoys cooking, gardening, music, and fitness activities.  She also holds a third degree in Kendo, the martial art of Japanese fencing, and was on the National Kendo Championship Women’s Team in 2002.