American politician and tech entrepreneur (born 1982)
Matthew William Mahan (born 1982)
[1] is an American politician and tech entrepreneur, now serving his first term as the
Mayor of San Jose . He previously served as the District 10 Councilmember representing the
Almaden Valley ,
Blossom Valley , and Vista Park neighborhoods.
[2]
[3] Mahan also served as the co-founder and CEO of
Brigade Media , a tech company focused on civic engagement.
[4]
[5]
[6]
Early life and education
Mahan was raised in
Watsonville, California .
[7] He attended
Bellarmine College Preparatory , where his uncle California real estate developer Ed Thrift had previously attended,
[8]
[9] on a low-income scholarship.
[7] While in high school, Mahan worked with former State Senator
Jim Beall and former Santa Clara Counsel
Ann Ravel .
[7]
Mahan graduated from
Harvard University in 2005.
[10]
In college, Mahan served as President of the
Harvard Undergraduate Council .
[11]
Private Sector Career
After Harvard, Mahan spent a year building irrigation systems in
Bolivia .
[12] He then joined
Teach for America where he was matched to
Alum Rock Middle School .
[12]
Mahan speaking at
Web Summit 2015
In 2008, Mahan joined a tech startup led by
Sean Parker and
Joe Green .
[10] Together, they formed
Causes , an early Facebook application focused on grassroots and public engagement that helped raise money for nonprofit organizations.
[13] Mahan became CEO and president of Causes in 2013.
[10]
In 2014, Mahan launched Brigade with investments from Parker,
Ron Conway ,
Marc Benioff , and others.
[13] Brigade was created as a social medium for civic engagement.
[6]
[13] In 2019, Brigade was
acqui-hired by
Pinterest and its technology was purchased by
Countable .
[13]
Electoral career
In early 2020, Mahan entered the
San Jose City Council District 10 race.
[12] He won with 58% of the vote, and in January 2021, was sworn in as the District 10 Council member for the city of San Jose.
[14]
[15]
In September 2021, Mahan became a candidate for Mayor of San Jose, focusing on a platform of accountability in government. He proposed an accountability dashboard which would track progress on issues like crime and homelessness. He also pledged to end the current system of automatic raises for politicians and city department heads unless progress is shown.
[16]
In November 2022, he was
elected mayor of San Jose , defeating
Santa Clara County supervisor
Cindy Chavez . The term is two years and he will be up for re-election in 2024.
[17]
He opposed an August 2023 deal with San Jose's municipal unions that raised employee wages and increased paid parental leave, arguing that the increased cost would lead to a budget deficit and force the city to cut services.
[18] The deal did not require his approval to go into effect.
[19]
Personal life
Mahan married Silvia-Wedad Scandar in 2012.
[20] The couple met at Harvard in their freshman year at school.
[21] They have two children and live in San Jose's
Almaden Valley neighborhood.
[22]
At Harvard, he lived in the same dorm as
Mark Zuckerberg .
[23]
References
^ Severson, Wesley.
"Meet San Jose's new mayor, Matt Mahan, the city government rookie who edged out a political veteran" . hoodline .
^ Vo, Thy (March 3, 2020).
"Matt Mahan headed to victory for San Jose City Council; Kansen Chu ahead for county supervisor" . The Mercury News. Retrieved June 5, 2021 .
^
"Matt Mahan" . Ballotpedia . Retrieved June 10, 2021 .
^ Ferenstein, Greg (June 17, 2015).
"Brigade: new social network from Facebook co-founder aims to 'repair democracy' " . The Guardian . Retrieved June 5, 2021 .
^
"Editorial: In San Jose's District 10, we recommend Matt Mahan" . The Mercury News . January 29, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2021 .
^
a
b
"A power shift, a pandemic and San Jose's two new councilmembers" . The Mercury News . January 2, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021 .
^
a
b
c Wipf, Carly (November 25, 2020).
"Matt Mahan prepares to take office as new District 10 councilmember" . San Jose Spotlight. Retrieved June 5, 2021 .
^ Nguyen, Tran.
"San Jose releases withheld Liccardo emails" . San Jose Spotlight . Retrieved November 22, 2023 .
^ "Name That Grad". Metro Silicon Valley . Metro Publishing Inc. April 22, 1999.
^
a
b
c Jennings, Duffy (November 2018).
"CEO, Brigade, and Co-chair, Joint Venture Board of Directors" . Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Retrieved June 5, 2021 .
^ Neyfakh, Leon.
"Disillusioned at the Top" . Harvard Crimson . Retrieved November 17, 2022 .
^
a
b
c Hase, Grace (February 27, 2020).
"Election 2020: Three Candidates Vie for Open Seat in SJ's D10" . San Jose Inside. Retrieved June 5, 2021 .
^
a
b
c
d Constine, Josh (May 1, 2019).
"Sean Parker's Brigade/Causes acquired by govtech app Countable" . Tech Crunch. Retrieved June 5, 2021 .
^ Davis, Rachel (January 4, 2021).
"Mayor Liccardo Celebrates Swearing-In of Councilmembers" . City of San Jose. Retrieved June 5, 2021 .
^
"Matt Mahan Pulls Off Decisive Victory in San Jose's D10" . San Jose Inside . March 4, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2021 .
^
"San Jose Mayoral Candidate Matt Mahan" . NBC Bay Area. May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022 .
^ Woolfolk, John.
"Mahan declares victory in San Jose mayor's race after Chavez calls to concede" . San Jose Mercury News . Retrieved November 17, 2022 .
^ Munce, Megan (August 15, 2023).
"San Jose city workers reach deal to avoid a strike; the mayor says it could harm city budget" .
San Francisco Chronicle .
^ Wolverton, Troy (August 16, 2023).
"San Jose has approved new labor deals, despite opposition from Mayor Matt Mahan" . Silicon Valley Business Journal . Retrieved August 16, 2023 .
^
"Silvia-Wedad Scandar, Matthew Mahan" . New York Times . New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2022 .
^ Jennings, Duffy.
"Meet Matt Mahan" . Joint Venture Silicon Valley . Retrieved November 12, 2022 .
^ Severson, Wesley (November 17, 2023).
"Meet San Jose's new mayor, Matt Mahan, the city government rookie who edged out a political veteran" . Hoodline .
^ Corona, Chris.
"Matt Mahan's Journey to Mayorship" . Metro Silicon Valley . Retrieved November 12, 2022 .
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