Ro Khanna lives in Fremont, California and has been involved in his local community for years. He developed a passion for public service from his family. His parents immigrated to this country to pursue the American dream. His father came to the University of Michigan to study engineering and still spends his Saturdays cheering for the Wolverines. His mother, a former substitute school teacher, raised him to believe that anything is possible in America. Ro's commitment to service is rooted in his belief that the American dream that inspired his family should also inspire future generations.
Ro recently returned to Fremont after spending two years working for the Obama Administration in Washington D.C. Ro served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary at Commerce. In this capacity, he managed 108 domestic Commerce offices that help companies export and innovate. Under his leadership, we are on track to meet the President’s National Export Initiative Goal of doubling exports by 2014. Nationally, exports grew by about 17% in 2010, and they are on pace to grow by about the same this year. This rate of growth marked a significant increase from previous years.
During his time in the Obama Administration, Ro was named to the White House Business Council. In this capacity, he held meetings with business and labor leaders across the country and advocated for policies to strengthen American competitiveness in a global economy. Ro also led and planned many clean technology trade missions and supported the Green Embassy program. This program allows American clean technology companies to showcase their products in our embassies overseas.
While in Washington, Ro never forgot about issues back home in the East Bay. He helped Fremont secure resources after the NUMMI plant closure to build a new manufacturing base. He worked with local leaders to support the I-Gate innovation cluster, a partnership between local government and the private sector to incubate high technology companies in Alameda County.
Prior to his service in the Administration, Ro was an intellectual property attorney with O'Melveny & Myers. He worked on a number of pro bono cases with the Mississippi Center of Justice. While at O’Melveny, Ro worked with Speaker Pelosi, Congresswoman Eshoo, and Congresswoman Lofgren to shape the party’s innovation agenda. Ro also enjoys the ongoing opportunity to work with students. He taught American Jurisprudence as an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State, and he volunteered for Irvington’s We The People high school team in Fremont.
Ro is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in economics from the University of Chicago, and a graduate of Yale Law School. He was a clerk for Judge Morris S. Arnold on the Eighth Circuit.
He is currently Of Counsel at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a Palo Alto based law firm where he specializes in intellectual property and clean technology law. Ro is on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte.