Meet District 4 City Councilmember Soheila Bana: 

No One is More Committed to our Community 

A Fearless Leader Who’s Spent Decades Fighting for Human Rights for Women, Children, and Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Soheila was born in Iran, the 7th of 8 children. Soon after she met her husband, the government arrested him for his political beliefs and nearly executed him, but thanks to public pressure, he was released after 6 years. 

Soheila came to America in 1985, put herself through community college, then received a Regents scholarship to UC Berkeley, where she earned a Bachelor of Science and PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. But she never turned her back on the fight for human rights.

Soheila co-founded Stop Stoning Forever, which helped end Iran’s secretive practice of stoning people—usually women--to death for adultery. She founded Daayeh International Alliance to Nurture Children, which supported children in need in Iran. And she has advised international human rights organizations like Equality Now and Amnesty International on advocating for women’s rights in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. 

Today, she partners with local nonprofits, the Latina Center and the Family Justice Center, to expand shelters and supportive services for women and children escaping domestic violence and homelessness. 

A Pioneering Engineer and Problem Solver

Soheila has spent her career solving problems. She worked as a researcher and State transportation engineer and has a deep understanding of our local transit challenges. She also invented new techniques for automated vehicles and wireless communication, and has several patents.

Soheila served as President of Professional Engineers in California Government, representing more than 1,000 government engineers. As President of Women in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, she helped establish the first graduate student-parental leave policy in America, enabling parental leave with protected health insurance benefits for graduate student parents. The policy is now in effect in all graduate schools in California. 

A Deep Love for Richmond and Strong Voice for the El Sobrante Valley, Fairmede-Hilltop and Hilltop Village

Soheila has lived in Richmond for nearly 30 years. She believes ours is a city of hidden jewels, and she loves the sense of community in our corner of Richmond.

Soheila ran for Council in 2022 because she believed we should have higher expectations for city government. She’s the first Iranian-American to serve on our City Council. During her first term, she’s become known as a particularly responsive member of the Council–immediately responding to residents’ concerns and making sure the right City Department is quickly activated to address the problem.

She has been laser focused on quality of life issues–filling potholes, fixing street lighting, trimming trees, bringing reduced price and free Richmond Moves shuttle rides to our district, and securing funding for beloved community events like the El Sobrante Stroll and El Sobrante Pride. Soheila has also been a leading voice in preserving the history of our city–both online and with plaques in public spaces.

City Hall’s Leader on Wildfire Prevention and Emergency Response

The El Sobrante Hills are particularly threatened by wildfire. Soheila has been working on wildfire issues for years and is known as City Hall’s wildfire prevention leader.

• Soheila pushed City Hall to make wildfire safety a top priority for the first time, and secured critical County funding for wildfire prevention.
• Thanks to her leadership, the Fire Department held its first-ever emergency evacuation drill and is now preparing its third—an expanded drill serving the entire 94803 El Sobrante Valley area. Soheila’s leadership also led to the Fire Department’s first Fire Station Open house. 
• She founded 94803 Emergency Preparedness Alliance to help residents reduce wildfire risk, plan for earthquakes, prepare for disaster recovery, and learn how to best communicate in the event of an emergency. 
• She founded and leads the County’s first Fire Safe Council, the West Contra Costa Fire Safe Council (WCCFSC), which educates residents on wildfire prevention and emergency preparedness. The Council convenes regional stakeholders—including local fire, law enforcement, and public works agencies, the East Bay Regional Park District, EBMUD, PG&E, and CAL FIRE—to collaborate on wildfire safety and safer evacuation routes. Thanks to Soheila and the Council's leadership, there are now more than five FireWise communities in El Sobrante, more fire breaks around residential areas, and more evacuation routes being cleared to protect our neighborhoods. 
• Soheila has been working with EBMUD to ensure fire hydrants have sufficient water flow and pressure during major fire incidents, and neighborhoods can access safe, drinkable water in the event of a significant earthquake.
• She stood up to PG&E, getting the utility to maintain its high voltage El Sobrante Valley transmission towers and to clear vegetation and dead trees around the towers–a major wildfire risk. 
• To address wildfire regionally, she helped create the East Bay Wildfire Coalition of Governments–which includes cities in the hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties–where she serves as a strong regional voice for Richmond. 
• Soheila is currently working with state legislators to advance new regional wildfire-safety plans. 

Making Life Safer and More Affordable for Richmond Families 

On the City Council, Soheila strongly supported numerous nonprofit organizations in working to reduce gun violence in Richmond. She worked with Police Chief Bisa French and the family of Pedie Perez–a man killed by Richmond police–to improve police training and reduce the use of excessive force. And after a neighborhood shooting, she mobilized City officials, police, and residents to implement new safety measures for our neighborhoods.  

She helped launch a taskforce to reduce gender-based violence, and worked with nonprofits and the County to implement a 9th grade school curriculum based on CDC guidelines about safe dating practices for youth. She’s currently working to open a new Latina women’s shelter. 

Soheila has also consistently stood up for higher wages and supported a strong unionized workforce.

An Environmental Advocate Who’s Fought for Sustainable Communities 

As a Richmond Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Soheila provided strong oversight of the Public Works Department to ensure our parks are well maintained and residents’ parks-related concerns are addressed. As Director of Citizens for Greener Communities, she’s fighting to create a community park along San Pablo Creek. She’s a Boardmember at CivicWell, a nonprofit working to elevate awareness among decision-makers at the state, county, and local levels about climate change. And Soheila is a strong supporter of the Green Team that is working to Make El Sobrante Clean and Beautiful. 

Soheila and her husband Reza Yazdi–a Richmond Human Rights and Economic Development Commissioner– have lived in Richmond for nearly 30 years, where they raised two children.