Yoriko Kishimoto
VTA Board Member

Palo Alto City Council Member Yoriko Kishimoto serves on the VTA Board of Directors representing City Group 2 (the North County Cities of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale), having done so since 2008.  She is also on VTA’s Congestion Management Program and Planning Committee and is serving as that committee’s vice chairperson during 2009.  In addition, she serves on the Dumbarton Rail Project Policy Advisory Board and the I-680 SMART Carpool Lane Joint Powers Board.  She previously served for five years on VTA’s Policy Advisory Committee representing Palo Alto, having been that committee’s chairperson during 2005 and its vice chairperson during 2004.

Member Kishimoto serves on the Palo Alto City Council.   She was elected in 2002 and again in 2006.   She served as the mayor of Palo Alto during 2007 and as vice mayor during 2006.   Member Kishimoto also serves on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, through which she is a member of the Mobile Sources Committee and the regional Joint Policy Committee.

Her community service includes the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan Transportation Committee, the Palo Alto Civic League, the University South Neighborhood Group, and several other community organizations and non-profits.   Member Kishimoto was also a Girl Scout Leader for many years.

Member Kishimoto received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.   She worked as a management consultant and also founded and served as president (currently on leave) of an international consulting business.   Member Kishimoto is also a published author and the co-founder of the Alliance Forum - San Francisco and Tokyo, where she was a member of the executive committee.   She previously has been a researcher for a Japanese research institute and worked as both a publisher and newspaper columnist.   Member Kishimoto is a cyclist and regular transit rider.