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Steve Ngo is a candidate for the San Francisco Community College Board of Trustees in the Nov. 2008 election. Steve is an attorney and civil rights activist committed to seeking justice in the courtroom and in the classroom. As the first in his family to attend college, Steve knows firsthand the transformational power of education. He firmly believes in access to higher education and is a staunch advocate for underrepresented communities. Steve's commitment to civil rights and education is rooted in his family's refugee experience. After fleeing Vietnam for the United States, Steve's mother worked in the service industry as a waitress and nail salon technician in New Orleans, Louisiana. After 20 years, she eventually opened her own nail salon business. His father took jobs as a busboy, roofer, and chef, and later attended community college to become an auto body repair technician. Steve's mother only had a third grade education and his father only completed the eighth grade, but in America they were able to build a better life through hard work and vocational education.

I want you to know that I would not ask my friends to make such a sacrifice unless I truly believed in this cause. The transformative power of education is a core belief of mine and the driving force behind this campaign. A vocational education gave my mother a chance. She had a third grade education from Vietnam when she came here, and a year later gave birth to me at the age of 16. The odds were stacked against her, but she persisted. She sought vocational training at a cosmetology school and eventually opened her own business. For her, it was the opportunity to learn a trade and a skill that gave her the chance to fundamentally change her life.