How City Councils Can Improve Youth Wellbeing and Health with Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson

In this week’s episode, host Ryan Coonerty speaks with Santa Cruz, CA, City Councilmember and Vice Mayor Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson. On the city council, she uses her background in social services and public health to integrate the values of wellbeing, sustainability, and equity into all of Santa Cruz’s policies. Kalantari-Johnson shares her path to service, starting with her early memories of her childhood in Iran, including a pivotal interaction with Iranian “morality police” that prompted her family to move to the United States to pursue brighter futures for her and her sister. Ryan and Vice Mayor Kalantari-Johnson discuss her policy work, which has included fighting childhood obesity and tooth decay with efforts like a soda tax, and they emphasize the need to remain optimistic through dark times, particularly as the Trump Administration targets the immigrant and refugee communities close to the vice mayor’s heart. Tune in to learn more from this engaging conversation and how Kalantari-Johnson balances her day job and motherhood with her service in city government. 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• [01:06] Welcome and introduction to Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson.

• [02:25] The experiences that put health front and center of Shebreh’s priorities.

• [05:45] Background on the policy and fight around the sugar-sweet beverage tax in Santa Cruz.

• [11:41] How City Councilmember Shebreh first arrived in Santa Cruz from Iran.

• [15:35] The role of her lived experience in addressing equity and inclusion

• [19:38] Her experience as an elected official balancing other responsibilities.

• [21:44] Choosing focus points amidst so many other issues.

• [25:43] Advice on finding optimism during trying times.