MEET HENRY

DAD, ENVIRONMENTAL ATTORNEY, SENATOR

Henry Stern represents nearly one million people in the San Fernando Valley, the Conejo Valley, and Simi Valley. In 2016, Stern became the first millennial elected in the history of California. He and his wife, Alexandra, live in Sherman Oaks with two little ones.

ROOTS

Henry’s history is bonded by the hustle and creativity that define LA – from Jewish and Portuguese immigrants who came to this country to drive trucks and farm apricots, to a social worker and concert pianist whose idealism landed them in the Kennedy Administration.

Henry was born in New York. But when his mom stopped cooking in restaurants, and his dad’s acting career took off in Hollywood, they moved to Los Angeles.

Stern left the surf and mountains of L.A. to study American History and play NCAA Division 1 water polo at Harvard University. He then taught high school civics, led a national youth organizing campaign around climate change, and worked as a juvenile justice investigator for Legal Aid, which inspired him to pursue public service through a law degree from UC Berkeley.

A LESSON IN LEADERSHIP

Stern’s first job as a lawyer was as junior staff counsel to Rep. Henry Waxman during his historic chairmanship of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which gave us the Affordable Care Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Stern learned how Waxman’s approach to public service – focused not on power politics but on smart policy and determination – to bridge stale divides and help people.

PEOPLE, JOBS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Rather than stay on Capitol Hill at a time of increasing gridlock, Stern made the jump to the private sector, where he helped build projects like the World Fuel conversion of an oil refinery to a renewable fuel plant in South L.A. He also helped civil rights groups like the Mississippi Center for Justice fight back against environmental, racial, and economic injustices after Hurricane Katrina.

MAKING AN IMPACT AT HOME

After learning how businesses and people look at government from the outside in, he returned home to California to put this experience to work for his hometown State Senator Fran Pavley, one of the foremost climate leaders in our nation’s history. Stern was elected overwhelmingly to represent Senator Pavley’s district after the end of her term.

RISING STAR IN THE LEGISLATURE

Stern has been recognized for his 100% voting record by Planned Parenthood, the California Environmental Justice Alliance, Equality California, Smart Justice, and the California Labor Federation.

He was also awarded Legislator of the Year by the Sierra Club, the Clean Money Campaign, the Technology Industry Association, and the California School Boards Association for helping parents and schools reopen during the pandemic.

Most recently, he received the Humanitarian Award from the Museum of Tolerance for establishing the Governor’s Holocaust and Genocide Education Council, which he now chairs with the Attorney General and the Superintendent of Public Instruction.