Born in New York in 1966 Fiona Ma and spent much of her life before politics as a self-proclaimed “dutiful daughter” in a Chinese American household.
Growing up, she was a tomboy, interested in sports, Girl Scouts and academics. Fiona was concurrently captain of the basketball, volleyball, tennis and softball teams in high-school while maintaining straight A’s. After speaking with her, even briefly, you get the impression that she doesn’t like to lose at anything–and rarely does.
A product of New York public schools, she attended Baker Elementary and Great Neck North Middle and High schools. Education was highly prized in the Ma household. “Dad always told us school is the number-one equalizer; knowledge is the gateway to success and with proper preparation and diligence, the sky is only the stepping stone,” she recalls. As a result the family is highly accomplished academically. “It’s true that education is the one thing no one can take away.”
Her father was a mechanical engineer with a bachelor’s degree from Canada, a master’s degree from National College, London, England and a PhD. From the University of Glasgow, Scotland. After entering the business world in New York, he realized that he needed more knowledge in running successful business enterprises, so when Fiona was six year old, he went back to Columbia University and earned a MBA. He is a licensed Professional Engineer by trade.
He founded or co-founded six companies and holds four patents on mechanical devices in solid waste compaction. He was President and Chairman of the Board of a public company and later specialized in construction claims and litigation before his recent retirement.
Her mother had both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in fine arts education from the City University in New York City and taught art at a public high school for 20 years before moving the family to San Francisco to be closer to her parents.
When counseling his children on their education and eventual careers, Fiona’s father encouraged an “honorable” profession–one that fit “the LEAD” (Doctor, Engineer, Accountant, Lawyer). Ever the dutiful daughter, Fiona received a bachelor’s degree in accounting at Rochester Institute of Technology with a listing in the Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges in 1988 honoring the nation’s most noteworthy graduates of high learning, a master’s degree in taxation from Golden Gate University, a MBA from Pepperdine University and her CPA license to practice. Her younger brother Mike says that Fiona’s role in the family is as a “trailblazer” who always leads by example.
In 1993 she was at Ernst and Young–one of the “big six” accounting firms at the time–and while she hadn’t yet hit the glass ceiling, she saw it looming. There were no female partners and few female managers. She decided it probably wasn’t going to be a good place to seek her future and decided to leave.
She and an associate started their own accounting practice. A scary prospect for some, but Fiona was influenced by her father’s entrepreneurial spirit and her parents’ encouragement growing up to “go for it” no matter what. In 1994 she was elected president of the Asian Business Association and found herself at San Francisco City Hall and at the state capitol in Sacramento lobbying for business issues that affected women and minorities.
Had she always dreamed of being a politician? Not even close. “I was exposed to the political process about once a year when my dad forced us to watch the presidential State of the Union address. I thought it was so boring!”
As a result of her work on behalf of the Small Business Association, she was elected in 1995 as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business under President Bill Clinton. As her interaction with Washington, D.C. and lawmakers increased at a national level, she began to believe in the importance of government and its ability to create positive change. Fiona’s advocacy work in that role helped lead to socially responsible contracting for minorities and women in San Francisco. She saw firsthand how, through politics, she could make a contribution to the community and help people. She was hooked.
Fiona also applied for and was appointed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to the Assessment Appeals Board and began to understand what she had to offer the world of politics.
That year Fiona embarked on her public-service career as a part-time district representative for then-State Senator John Burton. When considering the job, she found herself again pulled between duty and aspiration: to continue to please her parents or to follow what her heart had begun to tell her was a life-long passion–her calling. After some negotiation with her parents, who most certainly had not dreamed of having their first-born daughter become an American politician, a compromise was struck. She would continue to practice as a CPA and work part-time for Senator Burton. For the next seven years she served on the senator’s staff about two-and-a-half days a week. Her task was to help constituents with Medi-Cal, Workers’ Compensation, Unemployment Insurance, Franchise and Employment Development Department taxes, and professional licensing. A funny thing happened during her “part-time” work though, and she found herself spending virtually all her free time campaigning, researching and otherwise working in politics.
It was time to enter the political arena as a career; and at thirty-four, her parents were ready to let her go. In 2002 Fiona Ma was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and from 2002 to 2006 represented District 4, which encompasses the Central Sunset, Outer Sunset, Parkside, Outer Parkside and Pine Lake Park. “My parents always said ‘go ahead, give it a try’ about everything while we were growing up and then made us feel good about the attempt, regardless of the outcome. Entering politics full-time wasn’t scary for me. Failure never occurred to me. I’m sure that was an advantage.”
Starting with her small-business advocacy and continuing in her service on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, a pattern of giving voice to those without, creating equality where none exists, improving the human condition, and standing up for what she believes to be right, emerged in the politics of Fiona Ma. As a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors her major legislative push was to shut down massage parlors that were involved in illegal trafficking of immigrants for purposes of prostitution. Following the passage of Proposition 209, which barred public institutions from considering sex, race or ethnicity, she led the effort to create San Francisco’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, which enables small businesses to more easily participate in public-works projects. As a direct result of her work, the San Francisco Public Transportation Authority now states: “The Authority and its employees shall not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability in the award and performance of Authority contracts.” This measure broadens the scope of inclusion, leveling an important playing field for small businesses in San Francisco.
What Fiona considers one of her most important legislative wins–something she hopes will become part of her lifetime legacy–is helping to protect the nation’s toddlers from toxic toys. The years-long effort, which culminated in federal law enacted in 2009, bans phthalates, which are known to be harmful to human health. It started with Fiona Ma in San Francisco City Hall.
She watched as a member of the California State Assembly tried, and failed, to pass a bill that would have prevented these chemicals from being used in the state. Fiona explains that she knew the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with their guideline to err on the conservative side where detriment to human health is concerned, would have no problem passing what was an obviously needed piece of legislation. She decided to start at the local level and then to use that as leverage, putting pressure on the statehouse. Ordinance Number 060107 amended the San Francisco Health Code to “prohibit the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any toy or child-care article that is intended for use by a child under three years of age if it contains bisphenol-A or other specified chemicals, and to require manufacturers to use the least toxic alternative to those substances.” As Fiona had predicted, the ordinance passed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors easily. The next step would be at the statewide level. As it happened, Fiona Ma would be the one to shepherd it through.
In November 2006, Fiona got elected to the California State Assembly District 12, which includes San Francisco, Daly City, Colma and Broadmoor—some 420,000 constituents. She was appointed the Majority Whip, making her responsible for marshalling votes to ensure the passage of crucial legislation to improve public education, expand healthcare access and protect the environment.
During her first year in office she introduced what came to be known as the “Rubber Duck” bill, so named because the phthalates are often used in the manufacture of soft plastic toys and other baby products such as bath books, rubber ducks, and baby teethers. AB 1108 virtually mirrored the San Francisco ordinance she’d sponsored four years earlier. At the time she said, “California continues to lead the nation in protecting children from dangerous chemicals and in safeguarding our environment. AB 1108 sends a clear message to the Consumer Product Safety Commission that if the administration won’t act, states will.” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law in October 2007; it took effect on January 1, 2009. Other states followed suit, and act, the administration ultimately did.
In March 2008, Fiona Ma’s bill was used as a model in federal legislation when California Senator Dianne Feinstein wrapped a ban on phthalates into the U.S. Senate version of a Consumer Product Safety Commission bill that Congress passed in February 2009 and which went into effect the following August. As Fiona observes, “Banning phthalates across the whole country and helping keep kids healthy. That’s pretty good work, right?”
And that brings us to number three on her “legacy list.” At the age of twenty-two, Ma learned she has hepatitis B (HBV), a virus that causes 80 percent of all liver cancer if left untreated and one that shows no symptoms until it’s almost too late. Almost 1.4 million Americans are infected with HBV, and more than half are Asian/Pacific Islander Americans. An estimated one in ten is chronically infected with the virus. Like most Asian Americans, Ma contracted the disease from her mother at birth via perinatal exposure. San Francisco has the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation because of its high Asian population, and HBV-related liver cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among API men living in California. In true Fiona fashion, she decided to tackle the issue head-on and call as much attention to it as possible—a big jolt to a community that had attached such stigma to the illness it was considered best to keep it quiet.
As the “poster child” in the fight against hepatitis B, Ma serves as unofficial chairperson for San Francisco Hep B Free– the largest, most intensive healthcare campaign for APIs in the U.S. and one that is looked upon as a model for the nation in eliminating HBV. "How amazing would it be to help eradicate a disease?” she asks. Amazing indeed.
Fiona loves what she does–and for the foreseeable future she wants to keep on doing it. Oh, and her advice? “Don’t waste time being something someone else wants you to be–listen to your heart.” The duty is necessary, the passion wins.
