Ding Ding TV Report – Why Harbir Bhatia is running for Santa Clara Council

Harbir Bhatia’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.

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.

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.

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.