Sunny Zia

Recently elected to the District 3 seat on the Long Beach Community College (LBCC) Board of Trustees, Sunny Zia is a first generation immigrant. She holds a master of science in civil engineering and has nearly two decades of experience in construction, environmental, water, and infrastructure projects. As the Contract Compliance Manager at the Port of Long Beach, she is responsible for overseeing and ensuring proper contracting practices, estimated to be at $4 billion over the next decade.

A proponent of community service, Zia has worked on addressing hate crimes and bullying, overcoming poverty through micro-lending, refugee and immigrant resettlement, and job placement of veterans and other displaced Americans. She also currently serves as the Chair of Congressman Alan Lowenthal’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Human Rights and Foreign Affairs.

“As someone who has spent nearly a decade working on national, state, and local campaigns and worked with congressional leaders on human rights and foreign affairs issues, I believe that if we want to truly shape our destinies as Iranian Americans… it is imperative that we have a seat at the table and integrate as key figures in the American society,” says Zia.

“I have an unshakeable belief that no matter how educated or how wealthy we are as a community, we must participate in the American civic life, contribute, and eventually be regarded as other minorities who have come before us and are now viewed as key stakeholders and decision makers, not only in regard to their special interest issues, but also in regard to those affecting mainstream America.”