Why Harbir-Life of Service

Why Harbir? A Life of Service,

Rotary Motto: Service-Above-Self

| Harbir’s Background | Leadership and Community Organizing Experience  |  Awards |  Innovation and Solutions Mindset | 

All About Harbir K Bhatia, Santa Clara City Council Candidate for Election 2024  

Why should you vote for Harbir? Harbir’s life has been about ‘Seva’ (selfless service). She has worked tirelessly in community and non-profit organizations, in diverse spheres from socio-cultural to business empowerment, women’s rights, children’s health, diversity and inclusion to COVID relief etc.

Background  

Harbir is a community organizer, not a career politician. She is an Indian Sikh American female Engineer who came here as an immigrant when she was 7 years old, and thus can easily relate to the experience of other immigrants. Harbir has lived in Santa Clara for over 20 years, and been actively involved in many Santa Clara and larger Bay Area community organizations. She has been leading community initiatives for more than 30 years. Her vision is to ensure Santa Clara is a city where people of all backgrounds are welcome and have an equal opportunity to thrive. 

Her Story

Experience

Harbir has worked in hi-tech companies for most of her professional career, and she is an entrepreneur and innovator who is adept at solving problems. This includes strong contract negotiation, budget management, and planning skills for global corporate organizations. Her ability to analyze, forecast and anticipate problems will help her make better decisions.

Education

Harbir has a Master’s in Engineering from Santa Clara University. Her educational background, her professional experience, and her community leadership will help her make the right choices for the city in her position as the Santa Clara Cultural Commissioner (not an endorsement by the City of Santa Clara).

Independent voice

As a community champion, Harbir is focused on being the voice for the community. Her priority is not to play politics-as-usual. She prefers to focus on real problems facing District 1 and is not afraid to fight for the rights of the minority or the larger community, but work towards a more equitable future for the residents of the community.

Awards

Harbir has received several awards as well as recognition for the projects that she has been involved in, over the years. For example:

• ‘The Community Hero Award by California Assembly’ by Ash Kalra, Kansen Chu, and Evan Low
• ‘Leadership in Business Award’
• ‘Women’s Empowerment: Inspiring Achievement Award’
• ‘Distinguished Community Leader’, by the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce (now Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce)
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Innovative mindset

Harbir doesn’t wait for others to come up with solutions and can hit the ground running. She is able to gauge and solve realtime problems and has proven that she can come up with creative solutions and work towards the needs of the community. For example:

• She started the Santa Clara Community Coalition, when the COVID pandemic was just starting, and worked with several non-profits, local community organizations, businesses and individuals. This had a huge impact at the local, state, county and national level. 
• She also launched the first of its kind unique media program (Oonee Media Lounge) to give entrepreneurs a platform to share their story through news and media outlets, during one of the largest entrepreneurship conferences. 
• She understands the significant impact the increasing number of new housing projects have on the traffic demand and has worked on mitigation measures.
• She advocated increasing the designated number of affordable housing within each developmental project from 10% to 15%; for example, the Gateway Crossings project. 
• She advocates for job creation that ensures all can earn and sustain their futures
• She helped visualize how we can create thriving new developments – spaces that are supportive of small businesses and are also family friendly, where people can celebrate arts and culture, and get access to affordable housing for the community. 

Community Organizer and Leader

Harbir has been volunteering and leading for years and her diverse and extensive community network enables her to build bridges and find practical and timely solutions. Some of the non-profit, volunteer or committee work in the community involves:

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  • Sister Cities International National Board Member
  • Sister Cities Norther California Board Member
  • Ukraine Country Representative for SCI
  • Northside Library Fundraising Committee 
  • Opening the NorthSide Library 
  • Santa Clara Community Coalition, COVID Relief – Founder
  • Santa Clara Cultural Commission
  • Joint Venture Silicon Valley – Deputy Board Member
  • Member of The Women’s Forum
  • Past President 2019-2020 and Board Member of the Santa Clara  Library Foundation
  • SC Rotary Board Chair for International Projects 2020-21
  • SC Rotary Multicultural and Inclusion Task Force 2020-2021
  • Rotary Climate Action Committee
  • Member of the Advisory Board of Women’s March SJ
  • SJ Sikh Temple Community Relations Director
  • Until recently was a Board Member of Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce
  • Economic Development Committee, SVCCC
  • Strategic Planning Committee SC Library Foundation 
  • Chair for Task Force for SVCCC 2019
  • Speaker at Habitat For Humanity Women’s Build
  • Rebuild Silicon Valley  – Veteran Housing Building
  • Vigils to Raise Awareness Against Shootings
  • JOY of SEWA Advisor