Malia Cohen

We are proud to announce that Malia Cohen, 2005 Emerge California graduate and current board member, is running for San Francisco District 10 Supervisor in November 2010.

Malia was recently elected to serve as a delegate to the CA State Democratic Party Convention and is currently a Managing Partner with Power Forward Consulting, a public affairs, media and policy consulting firm. Over the years, she has gained an outstanding reputation for her expertise in policy, public affairs, media relations, grassroots and political campaigns.

Prior to establishing Power Forward Consulting, Malia was a member of the Corporate Strategy and Communications team for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which conducts the Nation's monetary policy, supervises and regulates banking institutions and maintains the stability of the financial system. She managed internal communication policies and protocols within the Twelfth District.

Malia served as Chief Legislative Aide to San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson. Working closely with Supervisor Jacobs Gibson, she analyzed and made recommendations regarding important budget and legislative issues that ultimately helped shaped Gibson's platform.

Malia also served as lead organizer for the Newsom mayoral campaign. She successfully galvanized resident support in District 10. Malia's leadership helped deliver record-breaking voter turnout for Newsom. Subsequently, she served two years with the executive staff of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Malia held key posts including: Executive Assistant to the Mayor, Executive Assistant to the Mayor's Chief of Staff, and Policy Analyst for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Her expertise in managing political campaigns and fundraising has elevated Malia to lead many successful fundraising and candidate campaigns. In addition, her leadership is reflected in working with community organizations, including serving as Assistant Executive Director of the Hunters Point Youth Park Foundation. Recently, Malia ended a two- year term as a delegate to the California State Democratic Party Convention.

Malia earned a Bachelor's in Political Science, with honors from Fisk University, was awarded the prestigious Coro Fellowship in 2001 and recently completed a Master degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.