Toni Atkins

Speaker Atkins was born in Virginia. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Emory & Henry College and completed the senior executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her life of public service began in San Diego in the mid-1980s as director of clinic services at Womancare Health Center. She served from 2000 to 2008 as a San Diego City Council member and acting Mayor in 2005 before her election to the Assembly in 2010. Atkins lives in the South Park / Golden Hill community of San Diego with her spouse Jennifer LeSar and their dogs, Haley and Joey.