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Low Named 2017 Legislator of the Year by Tech Association

Assemblymember Evan Low, D-Silicon Valley, was named 2017 Legislator of the Year by the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association at a reception Tuesday evening.

Assemblymember Evan Low, D-Silicon Valley, was named 2017 Legislator of the Year by the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) at a reception Tuesday evening.

Low has stood out since the beginning of his career as a public servant. He was the youngest Asian-American legislator to be elected to California’s Assembly, attended Harvard’s Executives in Government certificate program and founded a caucus focused on educating legislators on the ever-changing tech field.

The California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, which Low co-founded with Assemblymember Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, encourages discussion between legislators regarding technology and helps to minimize the gap between government and innovation.

“I eat, live, breathe technology as a millennial born and raised in Silicon Valley. I have seen firsthand the innovation and creativity that makes California thrive,” Low wrote in an email to Techwire.

Low chairs the California Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee and focuses his other committee work on communications, governmental organization, business and higher education. But it’s his focus on the new that’s helped him rise in public service.

Low began running for office because he favored housing that was affordable to his generation over the historic preservation favored in his Bay Area city. Since then he’s used tech to increase transparency by live-streaming city council meetings, embraced positions on select Assembly committees and used social media to engage younger Californians in the political landscape.

Kayla Nick-Kearney was a staff writer for Techwire from March 2017 through January 2019.