Adena Ishii

Adena Ishii (; born 1990) is an American politician serving as the mayor of Berkeley, California since 2024. She is the first Asian American and woman of color to be elected to the position.

Personal life Ishii was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Agoura Hills, where she graduated from Agoura High School. Her parents, Christopher S. Ishii and Carolyn Abe-Ishii, worked in the film industry. Some of Ishii's Japanese American relatives were incarcerated during World War II in internment camps due to Executive Order 9066.

Education and early career Ishii attended Berkeley City College in 2009. later rising to lead the organization. She served as chapter president from 2017 to 2019, making history as both the first woman of color and the youngest person to hold that position. Ishii's campaign manager was Cydney Chilimidos. Housing Action Coalition, Berkeley Democratic Club, East Bay for Everyone, Run for Something, East Bay YIMBY, and Gun Sense Voter. Ishii was endorsed by State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assembly member Buffy Wicks. She also received an endorsement from Barry Fike, the former president of Berkeley Federation of Teachers. Upon being sworn in, Ishii stated, "Many of us want to see a kinder country, a better country, a more compassionate country — the first step toward that dream starts here at home. It's time to unite against the kind of forces in our country that threaten our values. It's time to come together as one and create an example: an example of what a progressive city can be in the 21stcentury."

One day after Trump's second inauguration, Ishii and the rest of the Berkeley City Council unanimously voted to reaffirm the City of Berkeley's status as a sanctuary city. Ishii stated during the city council meeting, "In the current political climate, there are some cities that are actively assisting ICE, and we are taking the stance to reaffirm that we will not be doing that. I feel very lucky to be in a city where this is not a controversial issue."

On August5, 2025, Berkeley was included in a list of 35cities, states, and counties identified as "sanctuary jurisdictions" by the U.S. Department of Justice. Ishii responded, reiterating in a statement that "Berkeley continues to take pride in our status as a sanctuary city and we won't be bullied into abandoning our values", explaining "We are not backing down. Berkeley is committed to remaining a safe space for all who live, work, and visit here." Following the list's release, on August13, a letter addressed to Ishii was sent by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi threatening a loss of federal funding and criminal charges against individuals obstructing immigration enforcement. On September10, Ishii and the rest of the Berkeley City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance codifying Berkeley's sanctuary city rules into the city's municipal code.

In advance of a planned council vote on multiple changes to city rules on the use of public safety technology, Ishii co-sponsored a resolution with councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra rejecting the planned expansion of the City's existing automatic license plate reader (ALPR) contract with Flock Safety to install fixed surveillance cameras, deploy drones for public safety usage, and implement Flock's Nova software platform. In her resolution, Ishii cited previous incidents involving federal immigration agencies accessing the data from license plate readers of other cities without the city's permission or knowledge.