Kathay Feng is Executive Director of California Common Cause and National Redistricting Director.

She has led California Common Cause in championing election and redistricting reforms, government sunshine and accountability laws, campaign finance reforms, media access, and the voting rights of traditionally disenfranchised communities. Kathay helped spearhead California Common Cause’s successful effort to create an independent citizens redistricting commission; the state’s program has become a national model. She also led efforts that secured passage of California laws bringing online voter registration and same day registration to the state. Locally, Kathay helped lead successful coalition efforts to improve Los Angeles’ matching funds campaign finance system. She has helped make CCC an anchor organization for California’s election protection efforts, assisting and independently monitoring elections throughout the state. Kathay has been an activist and civil rights attorney in California for more than 15 years.

Before joining Common Cause in 2005, she headed the Voting Rights and Anti-Discrimination Unit at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. She helped the center secure key voting rights, anti-hate crime, language rights and consumer rights laws while also working on high profile hate crimes cases, civil liberties advocacy, and election monitoring and polling. Her advocacy led to creation of the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review, which provides citizen oversight over the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department on issues ranging from discrimination to use of force. She serves, or has served, on numerous boards including the California Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Voter Participation and Outreach, the LA County Human Relations Commission, and the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. She is a graduate of Cornell University, and holds a law degree from UCLA School of Law.