Commissioner Virginia Chang Kiraly
At the January 17, 2024 Regular Board Meeting Commissioner Chang Kiraly was voted in to be the Treasurer until the end of 2024.
At the January 18, 2023 Board Meeting, Commisioner Chang Kiraly was voted in to be the Board Alternate to LAFCo.
At the January 20, 2021 Regular Board meeting. Commissioner Chang Kiraly was voted into the position of President.
She previously held the positions of both Vice President and Secretary which she was voted into January 15, 2020 at a Regular Board meeting,
Commissioner Chang Kiraly was elected as President of the Harbor Board of Commissioners at a special meeting on September 19, 2019. She was previously Board President in 2018.
At a special meeting on November 16, 2015, the Board of Commissioners interviewed six candidates seeking to fill the vacancy on the Board. Virginia Chang Kiraly was appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy, Commissioner Chang Kiraly ran for a four year term in 2016 and won, being elected to a four year term on the Harbor Board. She was re-elected to Vice President of the Board on January 18, 2017.
Virginia earned her B.A. in Government and Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2007, she was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Commission for Economic Development. She served on the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury for two years from 2007-2009 and as Foreperson from 2008-2009. During her time on the Civil Grand Jury, she led an effort to connect public school fire alarms to first responders, such as fire departments (2008-2009); curb public employee pensions in San Mateo County cities (2008-2009); and discourage public agencies from using cash out re-funding of their general obligation bonds (2007-2008)-- a practice that has since been deemed illegal in California.
Virginia has fifteen years of professional experience in corporate financial analysis, planning, and investments. She is a former Senior Director of the Nasdaq Stock Market and has worked at some of the country's leading financial institutions.
She serves on the boards of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, California State Parks Foundation, and Sequoia High School Education Foundation. She is the founder and President of Ring The Bell Fund, which was established in 2012 to advocate, educate, and raise funds for school fire alarms to be connected to first responders and for automatic sprinklers to be installed in schools. She is a member of the San Mateo County Community College District's Measure G Parcel Tax Oversight Committee and the Sequoia Union High School District's Career Technical Education Steering Committee. She is a guest lecturer on "Women & Management" at Notre Dame de Namur.
A daughter of Chinese immigrants, Virginia was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She and her husband, Ken, live in unincorporated West Menlo Park with their two sons.
Contact information for Virginia Chang Kiraly:
- Email: vchang-kiraly@smharbor.com