Major Surgery Can't Stop Rees on Campaign Trail

San Francisco Chronicle

November 3, 2011

Everyone knows that campaigning for a major political office is tough and demanding. But mayoral candidateJoanna Rees is taking it to extremes.

Two weeks ago, Rees went to the doctor complaining of some pain. The doctor suggested she come back for some tests the next Monday.

"And I ended up having a full hysterectomy," said Rees, who was shaking hands and handing out campaign literature on the street near The Chronicle Wednesday. "That was eight days ago."#mce_temp_url#

What doctors thought might be a minor problem was actually a series of tumors. She says she was examined in the morning and had an appointment for surgery at 1 p.m.

The procedure went extremely well. The tumors turned were benign, and she left the hospital quickly. In fact, she appeared on a radio show the day after surgery. And the next morning she was at a Starbucks, shaking hands.

"My doctor happened to come by," she said. "He looked at me and said, 'What the hell are you doing?' "

Rees gave the answer of a true politician.

"Do you realize how late in the race it is?" she asked him.

Mayoral Candidate Profile:  Joanna Rees

Foghorn Online

November 2, 2011

Eminem, The Black Eyed Peas and Elton John are just a few of the musical acts San Francisco mayoral candidate Joanna Rees enjoys. “Music allows for discovery and is very important in my life,”she said during a recent interview with a USF student reporter. Wearing a black Banana Republic suit, Rees sat in her small, but cozy campaign office on Geary Boulevard. Sipping her coffee, she checked some last minute e-mails on her MacBook Pro and wrote something in her light blue planner. The office was filled with the aroma of cinnamon roast and baked goods. The walls were bare, but Rees’ desk was covered with papers. A young Caucasian man and Latinas were unpacking several boxes filled with red and blue campaign brochures with “REES” written in bold white letters on the front.

Rees, 49, is the managing director and founder of VSP Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital company. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Duke University and her MBA from Columbia University.

Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Rees was raised by an entrepreneur father and a schoolteacher mother. “My dad was an entrepreneur before people even started using the word. We always traveled even if we didn’t have any money,” she said. “My dad was very adventurous and all about experiencing what life had to offer.He always told me ‘People can take away your money and your possessions but they can never take away your experiences.’”
Her mother, Joan Rees, was a schoolteacher and had a different perspective. “She was not about experiences at all. My father was a thrill seeker and my mom was his anchor. She made it all work and kept the family together,” said Rees.

At Duke, Rees was a member of the gymnastics team. At Columbia, she was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honor society for business students.

Coming from a very inclusive and close family, Rees learned the importance of love and support. “We were that family that always had an extra kid at the table,” she said. “Life with my family was about experience and not possession.”
Her son Arthur, 22, is a student at Santa Clara University and daughter Taylor, 18, is a student at University of Colorado, Boulder. Married to her business partner John Hamm, she is stepmother to Andie, 13 and Perry, 11.

In 1992, Rees moved from New York to San Francisco. “Arthur was four and Taylor was a baby when we first moved to San Francisco. I wanted my children to grow up in an environment where they could experience diversity and a collection of different cultures,” said Rees.

As an entrepreneur, an educator and a mother, Rees lives an incredibly active and exclusive lifestyle. But she would not describe what she does as “balancing” career and family and political aspirations.

“I don’t think it should be called ‘balance.’ It should be called ‘managing’ because I feel like balancing is all about making a schedule of everything you have to do for the day and follow it exactly as it is,” she said.

She manages to visit her daughter Taylor at college in Boulder, Colo. twice a month. “I need to be very centered and engaged in what I do in order to manage everything I chose to do. No matter what, my kids are always first.”
Public education is one of Rees’ priorities. For many years, San Francisco parents and school officials have tried to change the lottery program that uses socio-economic factors when assigning student to schools. “Families in Inner Sunset need to send their kids to schools that are in the Mission. Many families leave San Francisco every year for better educational opportunities elsewhere,” Rees said. “The San Francisco Unified School District has been forced to cut art instruction and summer school programs. It’s completely devastating.”

Rees recently formed a ballot committee in support of Proposition H, which would direct students to their neighborhood schools, rather than the ones they are eligible through the lottery. She wants to get rid of the lottery system. In a recent Commonwealth Club forum co-hosted by columnist Melissa Griffin, when asked why she supports Prop H, Joanna Rees said, “We have lost families in an alarming rate in San Francisco and I encourage anyone who wants to learn about this to come to a bus stop with me in the morning. What you’ll hear from so many people is ‘I might not be here in November because my child is starting school next year and we want to get located in another city so we can get settled before school starts.’”

Rees started thinking about entering politics 12 years ago when she was part of a leadership program at The Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. A recipient of the Henry Crown Leadership Award, Rees was also a Henry Crown Fellow. The Henry Crown Leadership Award honors a leader whose achievements reflect the highest standards of honor, integrity, industry and philanthropy. According to Rees, the institute’s assignment was to teach leaders entrepreneurial skills. “My assigned mentor was Ann Richards, who was the first female governor of Texas. She inspired me and always said to me ‘Achieve what you want to achieve, but always give back to the community.’”

Rees has worked for more than a decade on the cause of public school reform. She has supported efforts to improve teacher development and improve student outcomes in the under-served communities of San Francisco.
“I’ve always said, San Francisco is the capital of innovation but not in city government,” Rees said. “College students should vote for me because I have a commitment to public education. The other candidates rarely emphasize their interest in education. The education system in SF will thrive if the mayor makes it a high level priority.”

Joanna Rees campaign website: http://www.joinjoanna.com/

Occupy SF gains support from Joanna Rees

San Francisco Examiner

October 12, 2011

Your attention please, demonstrators of Occupy SF – otherwise known as the 99 percent. The 1 percent is here to help.

It wasn’t much of a surprise when Supervisor John Avalos — the hard left candidate in the San Francisco mayoral race — came out to support the growing Occupy SF movement and its message that the top 1 percent of income earners in the U.S. are not paying their fair share of taxes.

But now the demonstrators can also count the venture capitalist candidate among their ranks. Joanna Rees showed up at the movement’s camp outside the Federal Reserve Bank on Market Street on Wednesday morning bearing donuts and croissants, she said.

“I’m happy to stand with them,” said Rees, who touts her successful business experience and investment in dozens of startup companies. “The 1 percent have not been paying their fair share.”

Rees, who also marched with the protesters in the Financial District on Wednesday, said she agrees with investment magnate Warren Buffet on taxing the rich. Buffet, nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha,” wrote an August New York Times op-ed called “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich.”

Rees said after meeting some of the demonstrators, she was surprised to find the local movement less radical than practical.

“These are hard-working, honest people who want to get back into the workforce,” Rees said.

Early voting kicks off in San Francisco

KGO-TV

October 11, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tuesday is the first day San Franciscans can start casting their ballots for the November election. There are more than a dozen candidates running for mayor and some candidates were among those taking advantage of the early voting.

David Chiu was the first mayoral candidate to cast his ballot Tuesday morning. Independent candidate Joanna Rees cast her ballot shortly after. They both say they have done endless amounts of campaigning, in part just to let people know that an election is coming up. A recent poll found that many San Francisco residents do not know who the current mayor is or that the election is approaching.

Current Mayor Ed Lee was also planning on voting Tuesday morning.

Normally, more of the candidates would cast their ballots on Election Day but they say since more and more people are voting by mail it's more important to get their names out early.

The election is scheduled for Nov. 8.

VIDEO HERE:  http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8387683

San Francisco Dog Owners Hope to Sway Mayor's Race

Associated Press

October 4, 2011

There are more dogs than kids in the City by the Bay. So it stands to reason dog owners carry a lot of clout — so much so they believe their endorsement can sway the upcoming mayoral race.

Candidate Joanna Rees — a venture capitalist with two dogs, Jack and Jill — held her own "Bark in the Park" forum several weeks ago.

"Dogs are an important part of many families and neighborhoods across our community," said Rees. "Open lines of communication between City Hall and pet owners — as with merchants, educators, parents, working families and other stakeholder groups — are the foundation of good policy."

On the Issues--Joanna Rees

Huffington Post

October 10, 2011

On the Issues--Joanna Rees - San Francisco Mayoral Candidate Profile

San Francisco Chronicle

September 27, 2011

Mayor: Rose Pak Meeting With Ed Lee "Was No Secret" But Pak, Mayor's Office Can't Agree on Meeting's Purpose

San Francisco Appeal

September 27, 2011

Mayor Ed Lee's meeting last Wednesday with polarizing Chinatown figure Rose Pak made some headlines, and not just because Pak, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce head who famously convinced Lee to take the mayor's job, exited the meeting on crutches.

Opponents of Lee in the November election likeventure capitalist Joanna Rees blasted the meeting as an example of Lee's government conducting business in secret, as the meeting with Pak was not on the mayor's schedule of public events.

Mayoral candidates on City College issues: Joanna Rees

The Guardsman

September 26, 2011

What Did Ed Lee, Rose Pak Do In Alleged Meeting With PG&E? What's Up With That $54 Million Line Item? Room 200 Isn't Saying

San Francisco Appeal

September 22, 2011

Word on Wednesday that lady-always-in-the-news Rose Pak exited the Mayor's Office while on crutches turned heads -- and not just because, as some folks cracked, that the Bulldog of Chinatown was probably attacked by a political rival.

Turns out that the impromptu meeting between Pak, the infamous "consultant" for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and her close friend Mayor Ed Lee was not on the mayor's schedule, drawing predictable ire from the mayor's opponents in the November election. Information isn't forthcoming, and that's a problem in this here open government town.

The problem is that information isn't forthcoming even when meetings are on the mayor's schedule, from his present interim stint in Room 200 to his days as City Administrator.

Take a series of tete-a-tetes scheduled with "Rose," and another with "Rose" and "Travis," all dating to the mayor's administrator days. Is the "Rose" Rose Pak -- and is the Travis, as one campaign guessed, Travis Kiyota, a PG&E official?

It could be, according to mayoral press secretary Christine Falvey, reached this week via e-mail.

"I don't know who Travis is without checking in (but it could have been Travis Kiyoto [sic])," Falvey wrote.

"As City Administrator, the mayor interacted with PG&E on many levels, including in his role of overseeing the Public Works Department, which coordinates utility under grounding, road paving and many other utility issues and services with PG&E, given their extensive work in the public right of way."

But is it PG&E's Travis Kiyota -- and is it Rose Pak? Falvey did not respond to further requests for information by publication time.

Sure, the wheels of open government turn slowly -- but they turn too slowly for mayoral candidate Joanna Rees, whose campaign fired off a terse press release calling out Lee's administration not for being unsure if he and Pak, his so-called kingmaker, met with the corporation Lee lauded as a fine corporate citizen near the anniversary of the San Bruno pipeline blast, but instead for being unsure how it's spending some $54 million ever year.

There's a line item in the Controller's Budget for "other expenses," Rees says, that adds up to that figure. Rees attempted to find out more about that spending, and a load of other city spending, with a Sunshine Ordinance request she filed on May 9.

She has yet to receive any response, she says in the release, almost five months later.

"That's outrageous to me," she told the Appeal on Thursday. "This is information any private citizen should be able to get."

One of the problems, Rees said, is that there's no teeth to the Sunshine Ordinance. "I've heard people around City Hall say that, 'We don't follow through on this [Sunshine requests] because it's a pain in the neck to provide the information and there's no consequence for not providing it.'"

A meeting with Pak was not on Lee's calendar for Tuesday, Rees noted, which poses the question of who else the mayor might have been meeting with in City Hall.

"We need a new Ethics Commission," she concluded, "and the Sunshine Ordinance needs to be fully enforced."

Joanna Rees Nets SF mayoral endorsement from Newsom -- not Gavin

San Francisco Examiner

September 7, 2011

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom might be staying out of the mayor’s race here in the town he once ran, but his wife is not.

Citing a lack of female presence in elected city posts, Jennifer Siebel Newsom has endorsed venture capitalist Joanna Rees for mayor.

“Joanna Rees is a self-made woman who came to our community as a working mom nearly 20 years ago, bootstrapped her way to the top of a male-dominated profession, created thousands of local jobs and helped transform our most underserved schools,” Siebel Newsom said in a press release posted on the Rees campaign website.

Rees also won the second-choice endorsement last week from the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee. If elected, she would be The City’s second female mayor, following U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who served as mayor from 1978 to 1988.

Web Exclusive: SF mayoral candidate Joanna Rees

KALW News

September 6, 2011

Joanna Rees is a “mother, mentor, education advocate and entrepreneur,” and now, she’s running for mayor of San Francisco.

In this extended interview, Rees discusses her background as an entrepreneur, her strategy for business and jobs creation, her vision for involving businesses as education partners in the city through internship programs, and her plan to streamline departments as a means of balancing the city budget.

Joanna Rees running, riding for SF mayor's office

San Francisco Chronicle

August 28, 2011

Next time you're riding Muni and a stranger taps you on the shoulder, be polite. She could be your next mayor.

You'll know it's her by the fiery red hair, the sky-high Chanel heels and the campaign literature she thrusts in your hand. She won't be dissuaded by earbuds and will ask you to take them out. She won't leave you alone if you tell her you don't live in San Francisco, don't follow politics or don't vote.

"Hi, I'm Joanna Rees," she'll say. "And I'm running for mayor."

The crowded, lurching 38-Geary may not be the likeliest place for the 49-year-old former venture capitalist who lives in Presidio Terrace to be seen. But she rides a Muni bus three mornings a week to talk to people about their concerns.

"We're a great city, and we're not living up to our greatness," she said. "When I'm out in the community, I almost feel like I'm on an apology tour. I'm so sorry the streets are so dirty. I'm so sorry Muni was late. I'm so sorry your kid didn't get into the school you wanted."

Often, the riders are surprisingly receptive. Sometimes they're not.

"I know you're trying, but I don't know you," said Marian Hayama, a 73-year-old sitting in the front row. "I have to go with someone I know."

Across the aisle, John Harris, an 83-year-old in a natty pinstriped suit was more impressed. "Don't let nobody stop you, baby, do it!"

Rees doesn't plan to let anybody stop her on her way to City Hall. She shuttered the offices of her venture capital firm in May and is running for mayor 17 hours a day, seven days a week.

She says she has knocked on 9,000 doors, talked to 650 merchants and chatted up thousands of Muni riders on 30 bus lines. She has raised more than $360,000 in private contributions and $470,000 in public financing, placing her among the top earners in the race.

Despite all this, Rees is barely registering a blip in polls. But don't bother telling her that - she has no backup plan.

"People are 100 percent undecided," she said. "I can't tell you how many doors I knock on and they think Gavin Newsom's still mayor."

And don't bother telling her interim Mayor Ed Lee, who announced he was running for a four-year term just weeks ago, has damaged her chances even more.

"I was running against eight insiders, then it was nine and now it's 10," she said.

If you really want to get Rees riled up, bring up the oft-mentioned notion that she's the Meg Whitman of the San Francisco mayor's race. Whitman was the former eBay CEO who ran for governor with no political experience and a spotty voting record. Rees, too, has never run for office and after registering to vote as decline-to-state in San Francisco in 1992, skipped about two-thirds of elections.

"I'm not a Meg Whitman - in no way," Rees said flatly, saying she's more liberal, doesn't wall herself off from the media or voters, and became successful despite a childhood of powdered milk and thrift stores.

The second of four children, Rees was raised in New Jersey by a stay-at-home mother, a former schoolteacher, and a father who started one failed business after another. She graduated from Duke University and put herself through business school at Columbia University.

Her first husband abandoned her and their baby boy shortly after she graduated, leaving her saddled with debt. She and her second husband, who had a daughter, moved to San Francisco, where she worked in finance.

In 1996, Rees created Venture Strategy Group, later called VSP Capital. She lived on her savings for three years, but eventually became one of the few women to make it big in venture capital.

She's married for the third time to her former VSP partner, John Hamm, now the CEO of a software startup in Santa Clara. Rees' son, Arthur, is in business school at Santa Clara University, and her daughter, Taylor, just started college in Boulder, Colo.

Whatever happens on election day, Rees said she's entering the public service era of her life. If that's as mayor, she'll start by making all department heads - including former City Administrator Lee - resign and reapply for their jobs. She'll also demand that they start from scratch in their budgets, explaining why each dollar is needed.

She sent her children to pricey private schools, but said she'll focus on improving the public schools by encouraging philanthropists to help fund them and pushing the school district to adopt an entirely neighborhood-based assignment system.

She'll also fight to scrap the city's payroll tax and recruit more foreign businesses.

It was this focus on jobs that excited Tim Tonella, a 47-year-old head of an executive search company. When he answered a knock on his Inner Sunset door several weeks ago, he was surprised to find Rees.

"I had never had anyone come to my door who was running for a major public office," he said. After talking for a half hour, Tonella was sold. He's voting for Rees, donating to her campaign and planning to host an event to introduce her to colleagues.

For Rees, it was one more San Franciscan down. Thousands more to go.

Mayoral election: For more coverage, go to sfgate.com/elections.

Mayoral Candidate Backs SB 48

Bay Area Reporter

August 11, 2011

Should she be elected mayor of San Francisco this fall, venture capitalist Joanna Rees said she would stand alongside the LGBT community as it fights any attempts to repeal SB 48.

Rees, a longtime education advocate, was asked about the new law during a recent interview with the B.A.R. Children should learn "about everything," including the LGBT community, she said.

"I am completely supportive of inclusiveness," said Rees, adding she would reach out to mayors in communities less liberal than San Francisco and seek their support in defending the bill. "It's just fair; let's just do what's right."

San Francisco's diversity, said Rees, was the reason she initially moved to the Bay Area 18 years ago from New York. Rees is married to her second husband, John Hamm, and raising four children: son Arthur, 21; daughter Taylor, 17; and stepdaughters Andie, 13, and Perry , 11.

The law would not personally impact Rees's family, as the older children are now college age and her stepdaughters attend private school. The legislation only applies to public schools.

Nor is it clear when state education officials will implement SB 48. According to a statement State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson issued July 14, the state process for the development and review of K-8 instructional materials "is currently dormant" due to budget cuts.

As for Rees, she will be bringing her "Talk of the Neighborhood" town hall series to the Castro from 5 to 6:15 p.m. Monday, August 22 at the Twin Peaks bar located at the corner of Castro and Market streets.

Mayoral Candidate Joanna Rees Requests City Budget Numbers 

San Francisco Examiner

August 11, 2011

Mayoral candidate and venture capitalist Joanna Rees wants a look at The City’s complex departmental budget makeup, but hasn’t had any luck yet.

In an editorial board interview with The Examiner on Thursday, Rees said she first requested the budgets from departments verbally, then with letters, and now she has filed Sunshine Act requests to compel The City to release the information.

“We have not received any,” Rees said.

As part of her campaign platform, Rees wants city departments to “start from zero,” basically resubmit their budget priorities and justify expenditures. This type of zero-based budgeting is used by startup companies looking to grow with limited resources, she said.

She also wants to create incentives in departments so they can be “rewarded for improving services to the community by spending less.”

“That will make sure we can get all the right people in the right positions,” Rees said.

Watch Video Here 

Joanna Rees:  A Refreshing Alternative to Politics as Usual?

Fog City Journal

August 10, 2011

There’s something to be said about an individual who is inspired to serve for the common good. Meet venture capitalist Joanna Rees who so far has undeservedly not garnered much attention in her bid to become the next Mayor of San Francisco.

In an interview Monday following a mayoral debate at the Castro Theater in which interim Mayor Ed Lee was booed, hissed and air horned for breaking his promise to not seek a full-term, Rees, who describes herself as a “progressive independent,” told FCJ she was inspired by the late Ann Richards, the former progressive Governor of Texas who admirably became a symbol of pride and accomplishment for the advancement of women in State and National politics.

“I always said from the beginning that this was incredibly purpose-driven for me,” Rees said, referring to her mayoral candidacy. “I had this great mentor, Ann Richards, the former Governor of Texas, and she instilled in me an obligation to go into public service when she said, ‘Achieve what you want to achieve professionally before you serve.’ So it really is about service and not about getting the job, and that’s why this campaign experience has actually been inspiring to me. I feel like I have a real opportunity to give back.”

Rees’ apparent selfless desire to serve and to give back is a quality that, regrettably, seems to have gotten lost on many politicians these days who, once in office, develop a taste for power; seemingly revel in the sycophantish props and attention they receive from their coattail dwellers; become corrupted by the legal bribes they receive – bribes that chip away at their souls while diverting their political compass – and quickly lose sight and footing for the immense honor and responsibilities attached to the privilege of public service.

Not all politicians, mind, but human nature being what it is, it takes a special individual who has everything to offer and very little to gain, who is immune to the foregoing trappings inherent in the beast of politics, someone who is willing to sacrifice themselves for a noble cause.

Could that special individual be Rees? She’s already independently wealthy and has nothing to lose by running on a platform to restore dignity to City Hall and to make San Franciscans proud of their political leadership.

As she repeatedly reminds audiences during mayoral debates, she is running against City Hall insiders. By contrast, Rees seems to be prepared to do whatever’s necessary to capture the imagination and the support of the voiceless in a bid to rid the city of the play-to-play patronage and corruption that is all too common in San Francisco, the very scourge that benefits the few over the many.

“Absolutely, 100 percent,” she said when asked if she is willing to be a one-term mayor. “Because it’s about getting us back on the right trajectory and the only way we’re going to do that, is through fighting the tough battles.”

And those battles will be against entrenched interests that will do anything to maintain the status quo.

As a woman in a male-dominated world of venture capitalists, “I’ve stood alone for so long,” Rees added. “The press always says I bootstrapped myself into the old boys club of venture capital. Nobody wanted me there, but I felt like I had a purpose and I had to stand alone, a lot. But I said I am an important voice here making a contribution based on the perspective I came from.”

Knowing very little about Rees until she entered the race, I wanted to test her progressive credentials on issues that are important to some progressives, particularly the issue of reporting undocumented arrestees to Federal authorities and the city’s Sanctuary City Ordinance.

On both issues, Rees supports opting out of US Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) Secure Communities (S-Comm) program and fully supports the city’s Sanctuary City Ordinance.

“Absolutely not. I do not support it in anyway,” Rees said of S-Comm, “and I believe our Sheriff Michael Hennessey was right in opting out of the program.”

“One of the things I love about San Francisco is that it opens its arms to the world, and let’s not stop doing that,” she added.

When asked what she means when she says she’s a “progressive independent,” Rees said: “Independent means I’m about the best people and the best ideas and, frankly, don’t care where they came from, and I have been frustrated by the conflict-based dialogue that often exists – and that’s the way people get headlines – and I really think we have to get back to serving the community. And progressive means I am about a forward progress, open minded, and as I have said, I am about empathy – I feel like we’re losing empathy.”

After a long, two-hour mayoral debate, I didn’t have much time or energy left to delve further into Ms. Rees’ background and qualifications, but I was certainly intrigued to learn more and offered to have a sit down with her at a later date where FCJ can explore her candidacy further. So far, she comes across as straight forward, honest (a rare quality these days), and courageous.

Before we parted ways, I asked Rees why she’s running.

“I love this city and I care about people in this community,” she said. “People in this community really deserve to have the government serve them than serve itself. This is the whole reason why I am doing this – because I want to serve the community.”

Women Urged to Jump Into Political Races

San Francisco Chronicle

August 4, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO -- In this era of harsh political rhetoric and personal attacks in Washington, D.C. - witness the debt deal debate - why would women want to continue to fight their way into the mosh pit of American politics?

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, one of the toughest women in the arena, has the answer: The fetid atmosphere is even more reason for women to want to change the male-dominated debate, she said Wednesday in San Francisco.

Women make up more than half the U.S. population but hold fewer than 25 percent of all legislative seats, 18 percent of congressional seats and only a handful of governorships. Those are numbers that make the incentive to run greater than ever, current and prospective female candidates said.

Wonder Woman

Haute Living Magazine

July 21, 2011

In the 15 years since Rees founded Venture Strategy Partners, she’s taken the venture capital world by storm. She’s often the only woman in the boardroom, boasts numerous industry accolades and has firmly established herself as a powerhouse in the realm of venture capital. On top of that, she’s a mother, a Columbia Business School graduate, an entrepreneur and an education advocate.

But that isn’t enough for Rees. Next on her to do list? Running for mayor of San Francisco.

Rees got her first taste of politics at VSP. Through her leadership position at her venture capital firm, she was able to see firsthand how important it was to be involved in the policy agenda and to use entrepreneurship to impact the future. Rees’ experience in entrepreneurialism, venture capital and finance has made her an important contributor to the conversation.

“I know that I am an important voice in the dialogue because my dialogue has come from two years of listening in the community and my own background and experience that isn’t tied to any special interest or current system,” Rees said. “Therefore if I can influence the dialogue based on where I come from, I’m having an impact.”

This background is varied, and eclectic. Yet all Rees’ experiences brought certain lessons of their own.  Read More

David Chiu isn’t the only mayoral candidate with business experience

Richmond resident running for city's top political office

Richmond Review

July 2011 Issue

San Francisco mayoral candidate Joanna Rees has a dream for San Francisco: to be known for something that could be about the future - not just about the Golden Gate Bridge and sourdough bread. Speaking in her Richmond District headquarters on Geary Boulevard at Seventh Avenue, she says her goal is to inspire forward thinking within the city's diverse communities and to make San Francisco the innovation capital of the world.

"We have an unbelievable amount of engaged communities and are fortunate to have so many people who care. That does not exist in lots of places and says a lot about the potential of this City," Rees said.

Rees says in order to make this happen city residents and political leaders must use innovative thinking, concerning aspects like business, social justice and technology, in order to grow and expand the rich history of progress made so far. She also feels it is imperative not only to put into practice our use of them but to also become the pilot of that innovation so San Francisco can move into the future.

Born in New Jersey to an Italian-American family, Rees went to Duke University Medical School until her first time working at a hospital showed her that she was more interested in the science of medicine rather than watching people in pain.

While taking care of her five-month-old son, she earned her MBA in finance in just one year and four months. She eventually took over her family-owned hotel. After turning the business around after just three years, she sold the hotel and buried her father in the same week. That's when she decided to come to San Francisco with a 4-year-old son and 12-day-old daughter in tow. She came with an idea and a purpose and has been a Richmond District resident for the last 14 years.

Rees was strong in marketing and wanted to practice what she had learned.

"Technology companies fail not because they don't build the technology they said they would, but because they don't understand the market and their customers," Rees said. "Instead, the idea was to find market needs and market trends that resonated with people."

Rees thrived as a venture capitalist, eventually becoming one of the few woman partners in the industry. She went from entrepreneur to having political ambitions after being mentored by former Texas Governor Ann Richards at a leadership program. Richards told her she had an obligation to go into public service and taught her it is more about service than building a resume. To this day, Rees avoids the term politics and replaces it with public service.

Gavin Newsom, Joanna Rees, and a roomful of hackers: Summer of Smart continues

The Bay Citizen

6/30/2011

Over the weekend, around 50 artists, city planners, journalists and developers gathered on a fifth-floor office space overlooking ramshackle Market and Sixth streets with a single goal: build an interactive project focused on art and community in 48 hours or less.

The hackathon was part of Summer of Smart (#sfSos), a summer-long experiment in urban innovation designed to bring designers, artists and coders together to drum up technical solutions to San Francisco's most pressing social issues using public data. The experiment is the brainchild of The Gray Area Foundation for the Arts, a San Francisco-based idea incubator fostering thought around digital culture (The Bay Citizen is a Summer of Smart media partner).

In San Francisco, Open Government Becomes a Campaign Issue

Tech President

5/24/2011

GovFresh's Luke Fretwell writes that five candidates for mayor of San Francisco have signed an open government pledge modeled after framework language, the Local Open Government Initiative:

SF Giants To Join Anti-Homophobia Campaign

SF Appeal

5/18/2011

More than 6,000 people signed the petition, including several San Francisco mayoral candidates--Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, venture capitalist Joanna Rees, city Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and state Sen. Leland Yee, according to a news release from the website.

LGBT themes emerge at first mayoral forum

Bay Area Reporter

5/12/2011

Outside the conference center volunteers for candidate Joanna Rees, a venture capitalist, handed out a campaign flier with a cover photo showing her talking to a gentleman under signage reading "Harvey Milk Plaza."

Visible in the background is a photographic memorial to Milk that greets people entering the Castro Muni station. During her forum remarks, Rees did not directly refer to the city's LGBT residents but did allude to San Francisco's reputation as a tolerant city.

Mayoral Candidate Joanna Rees Hits the Outer Sunset

SF Appeal

5/10/2011

Progressive Independent candidate and Sex and the City pal Joanna Rees' strategy for this appears to be a "Talk of the Neighborhood" meeting series, where she "speaks to neighborhood residents...about her vision for San Francisco. Residents" says her campaign "are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas about San Francisco's future."

In her third meeting on Wednesday, May 11, Rees will hit the Sunset District's Greenhouse Cafe at 27th and Taraval.

Running for Mayor, but With Her Money Not in Play

New York Times

5/7/2011

As she campaigns to be elected San Francisco’s next mayor, Joanna Rees, a moderately successful venture capitalist and a Columbia M.B.A., is determined to prove that the seemingly immutable laws of local politics do not apply to her.

Ms. Rees, a 49-year-old mother of two, has spent the past two years visiting coffee shops and churches and riding Muni buses (in four-inch Chanel pumps) to chat up voters — employment anxiety dominates the conversations — as she angles to break the business elite’s string of electoral losses.

A formidable networker, Ms. Rees has an impressive list of campaign contributors: Mark Pincus of Zynga, Marc Benioff of Salesforce, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, assorted Pritzkers and Bronfmans and Coppolas, the wife and the sister of former Mayor Gavin Newsom and the musician Quincy Jones.

As Ms. Rees makes her rounds, with a business-friendly message that puts her well to the right on the San Francisco political spectrum, she is winning some support. “She is as smart as hell, a real person, not political,” said James Ludwig, former head of Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco.

Impressed by her focus on public-education innovation and her business savvy, Mr. Ludwig recently sent out hundreds of letters on Ms. Rees’s behalf. Hilary Newsom, the former mayor’s sister and president of the PlumpJack Group, has done the same.

And they're off! Mayor's horse race offically beings

SF Bay Guardian

5/6/2011

Venture capitalist Joanna Rees made the biggest visual impression of the night, thanks to a bright orange jacket that made this reporter speculate that Rees was trying to raise her name recognition by making a subliminal connection with the famously bright orange wrapped Reese's Pieces. Either way, Rees cast herself as a political outsider who would breathe fresh air into an otherwise, allegedly, uninspired room. “We’ve lost the spirit of innovation at City Hall,” Rees claimed, as she committed to creating an online clearinghouse that would allow people to share their talents and meet the needs of various services, and thereby “foster more public and private partnerships.”

S.F. Mayoral contenders square off in 1st debate

SF Chronicle

5/6/2011

Rees, who is campaigning as an outsider, said City Hall could benefit from a good dose of innovation and by tapping into the volunteer spirit to augment services provided by the deficit-saddled city government.

Venture Capitalist Joanna Rees: San Francisco's "Innovation" Mayor?

Silicon Valley Watcher

5/5/2011

I especially liked her positions on education. She pointed out that less than half of San Francisco's public school students graduate.

- She proposed mentoring programs to help principals better manage their schools, something that successful entrepreneurs might volunteer for.

- She also said that it should be possible to find an internship position for every one of San Francisco's high school children.

- She is an advocate of children attending their neighborhood schools.

The local schools issue is a big one for me. San Francisco operates a unified school district, which means that students have no guarantee of attending their neighborhood school. My son was assigned to a school way on the other side of town, in a strange neighborhood. Yet there was a great school one block away.

Ms Rees pointed out that you see this all the time, the long lines of parents in cars, picking up their children, when if they attended local schools, they could walk home.

But there's more to the education issue than just neighborhood schools, as Ms Rees points out, they are starved of government and local funds, and while the teachers are trying their best, it's a bad situation for all.

Dreamy Celebrities Campaigning for Mayoral Candidates

SF Gate

3/30/2011

Let's all agree. From now on, any mayoral campaign party must include a celebrity appearance.

This past Sunday, Mayoral hopeful Joanna Rees held a fundraiser at the apparently chic 620 Jones and provided real, live "celebrity" Jason Lewis as entertainment.

Celebrity is a relative term, and I find myself more susceptible than most to the glamour of a SAG card. But Jason Lewis is "Absolut Hunk" from "Sex and the City." Don't try and tell me THIS doesn't make someone a bona fide star.

While I think Joanna Rees is very nice, and I'm always up for weird political events, the reason I made it to 620 Jones on Sunday was to gawk at the guy from "Sex and the City." And by the looks of it, I wasn't the only one.

Sex and the City' and Joanna Rees

SF Examiner

3/25/2011

Jonesing for a little "Sex and the City" this weekend? Well, then head over to new nightclub Jones on Sunday to meet mayoral candidate Joanna Rees and Jason Lewis, otherwise known as the hunky Smith on the hit HBO show.

Granted, it’s been seven years since the show went off the air, and the film sequel left a bit to be desired. But that doesn’t mean Rees won’t see a good turnout at the $25-$50 a head fundraiser. The guest list was at 88 and counting on Friday.

Joanna Rees: She Always Did Her Homework

Barbary Coast News

3/17/2011

For the past two years, Rees has been walking the streets of San Francisco, talking with small business owners and residents in all the City’s neighborhoods. During this “listening tour” Joan said, Rees found that nearly everyone is concerned about the economy, jobs and schools. She’s gathered a wealth of information about what’s wrong and what needs to stay the same. Overall, everyone she speaks with wants to preserve the integrity of their neighborhood. “San Francisco is unique among cities in the U.S.,” Joan says. “When you’re here, you can walk a few blocks and be in a completely different ‘country’—Italy, Russia, or China.”

Everyone is proud of his neighborhood and doesn’t want to see it changed by fast-food restaurants or chain stores coming in and taking away the local flavor. Neighborhoods want San Francisco to remain a collection of unique cultures served by independent small businesses that help preserve those cultures.

Joan says she’s heard her daughter say that growth is important for the City’s survival. But that the key is to grow our way! We have to make sure our policies support small businesses. Right now they aren’t. As an example, Joan points out the issue of parking meters and the punitive fees and fines. “I’ve heard people complain at these neighborhood meetings about a $69 dumpling in Chinatown ($4 for the dumpling and $65 ticket for being one minute late)! Or a $63 visit in the Barbary Coast ($60 fine for being five minutes tardy while getting a coffee at Starbucks).

Rees Kicks Off Mayoral Speaker Series

Bay Area Reporter

2/3/2011

Too much of San Francisco's workforce commutes to jobs outside of the city, Rees, 49, told a group of approximately 30 people gathered in Hemenger's living room Monday, January 24. The city's high cost of doing business has led many employers to avoid San Francisco, she said.

"Twenty-five percent of our working population commutes out of the city," she said. "That was 5 percent 15 years ago."

Rees suggested that the city institute new tax incentives, modeled after the existing biotech payroll tax exemption, to attract new industries.

In addition, she said, the city needs to maintain a strong workforce by increasing the rate of high school graduation and college matriculation.

"If we don't dramatically improve public education, we will not have a viable city going forward," she said.

Throughout the evening, Rees maintained a heavy emphasis on job creation.

When asked how she would push the city toward achieving its goal of 20 percent of trips by bike by 2020, she responded, "more people are going to ride bikes if they have jobs in the city to ride bikes to."

When asked for comment on the potential closure of Lyon-Martin Health Services, Rees said, "It distresses me ... It's so important that we bring in more revenue into the city so we have more dollars available."

Entrepeneur Eyes SF Mayor's Race

SF Chronicle

3/7/2010

Standing before a class in entrepreneurship at San Francisco's Balboa High School, Joanna Rees gave the 15 seniors a memorable lesson in gumption.

The 48-year-old founder of VSP Capital, a venture capital firm, explained her bruising battle to break into the cutthroat, male-dominated world as a young woman with no previous experience in venture capitalism.

"I heard 'No' 200 times in a row," she told them of hitting up potential investors for money to start her own fund. "Why do you think they said no?

"Because I was new. Because it was high-risk. Because I hadn't done this before. But every time I thought I'd heard enough no's, some little thing would happen that would convince me there was hope."

Rees finds herself in much the same position now. Once again, she wants to break into a blood sport dominated by men where she has no experience. And once again, she's shooting straight for the top.

Mayoral Launch: Joanna Rees

SF Chronicle

9/1/2010

Mayoral launch: Joanna Rees, a well-connected venture capitalist and player in education reform, plans to take out exploratory papers today for a run for San Francisco mayor.

The 49-year-old Rees, who is registered as decline to state, said she plans to run as a "progressive independent," emphasizing jobs, education and government transparency.

Meet Joanna Rees, candidate for mayor, Ann Richards protege

SF Examiner

9/2/2010

This week, entrepreneur Joanna Rees filed to run for mayor of San Francisco in 2011. I got a chance to speak with Rees, who began our conversation by explaining that she chose Sept. 1 to file because that’s former Texas Gov. Ann Richards’ birthday. Apparently, Richards is a former mentor to Rees. Obviously, I had to constrain my jealousy about that fact to bring you the rest of the interview.

Joanna Rees: Alley Cat

Forbes Magazine

10/2/2000

THIS WAS IT. AFTER THREE years of glad-handing, jawboning and otherwise explaining herself, new venture capitalist Joanna Rees Gallanter was down to her last 36 hours to close in on potential investors. It was a deadline imposed by her earliest investors, who had put up an initial $5 million a year ago. They allowed her to do a rolling close, giving her until December to raise more money. Then, she'd asked for three more months. Now it was Mar. 18, 1999, day 89. She had $18 million but wanted desperately to break the $20 million barrier--barely enough to be taken seriously. "It was our last chance," she says.