Householder wins Antioch School Board seat, becoming the youngest member elected in the school board’s history

On November 6, 2018, Ellie Householder won a seat on the Antioch Unified School District Board of Education. The 25-year-old Educational Consultant and UC Berkeley graduate student is the youngest member elected to the Antioch School Board. Householder beat out former Antioch Mayor James “Jim” Davis by 1,748 votes, with a total of 8,705 votes.  She joins Mary Rocha as the two newly elected members to the five-member Board.“The community in Antioch and Oakley want to see new leadership and positive change,” Householder said, “and I believe they showed that on election night.”Householder has a resume and experience that surpasses her age. She has worked for AUSD as an educational consultant, working closely with the development of the District’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) and helped create the District’s first Student Advisory Committee (S.A.C.), where students from all six high schools participate in the budget development process. She also worked for the U.S. Department of Education in Washington D.C., and for various non-profits aimed at poverty alleviation. She has an Associate's Degree in Paralegal Studies and Liberal Arts with an emphasis on social and behavioral sciences and a Bachelor's Degree in American Studies from UC Berkeley. She is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Public Policy at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and is set to graduate in 2020.Although Householder was a newcomer to Antioch’s political scene, she was supported and endorsed by Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe and Councilmember Monica Wilson, as well as the California Democratic Party; key endorsements that likely helped legitimize her candidacy to voters. As a lifelong resident of Antioch, a graduate of Prospects Continuation High School, and community college graduate turned UC Berkeley graduate, Householder said she is excited to be a voice and a role model for people like her in the community who did not have a “typical” educational path. Antioch Unified School District serves nearly 17,000 students, 70 percent of which are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged. “I understand the struggles our parents and students face because I faced them too when I was a student in AUSD,” Householder said, “It’s time we have leaders who are representative of our community, and who have the life experiences and educational background needed to make a difference.”Ellie Householder will be sworn in on December 12, 2018, by Councilmember Lamar Thorpe at Lone Tree Elementary School. Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/255682615123190/