Buu Thai has been a resident of San Jose for 31 years. In 2005, Thai was appointed to the Franklin McKinley School Board – the first alumni to serve on the board. Elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010, her terms on the board are distinguished by implementing initiatives ...
Read moreBuu Thai has been a resident of San Jose for 31 years. In 2005, Thai was appointed to the Franklin McKinley School Board – the first alumni to serve on the board. Elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010, her terms on the board are distinguished by implementing initiatives that:
Increased the number of students who successfully pass Algebra;
Improved student achievement district-wide;
Attracted and retained high quality teachers and staff;
Established a state of the art early childhood development center, EduCare, for children 0 to 5 years old; and
Created a safe and healthy learning environment for all students.
As a former Youth Services Division Director with Catholic Charities, Thai developed community-based programs to address issues of truancy, gang violence, and teen dating violence in San Jose. Her other notable professional experiences included serving as a contractor with Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy, Public Affairs Director with Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Senior Field Representative with California State Assemblymember Sally Lieber . These experiences provided Thai opportunities to advocate for policies relating to health access, domestic violence prevention, and ending human trafficking.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Thai served on numerous local boards and commissions. Thai was a member of the AIDS Coalition of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women, Yu-Ai-Kai Japanese Senior Center, San Jose Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force, San Jose Project Diversity, Project Cornerstone and Girls For a Change. In 2008, Thai was a recipient of the Monarch Leadership Awards by Pacific Asian American Bay Area Women (PAABAW) as an emerging woman leader.
Born during the Vietnam War, Thai and her family escaped the war torn country as the first wave of “boat people” to Malaysia when she was six years old. After living in the Malaysian refugee camp for 18 months, Thai and her family were sponsored to Naples Florida in 1980. In 1982, Thai and her family migrated to San Jose to be a part of a growing Vietnamese immigrant community.
Thai is a product of the public education system. She graduated from Andrew P. Hill High School in 1991 and earned her Bachelor of Science in Human Development with a minor in Education from UC Davis and a Master’s degree in Social Work from San Jose State University.
Read Less