By Abby Cohn
Has an Oakland League program ever helped you get up-to-speed on the pros and cons of all those local and state ballot measures? Have you watched one of our videos for a quick rundown on a particular measure? Or have you clicked on our website for details on your voter registration? Chances are, Anna Mathai had a hand in those resources.
“This is my purpose now,” says Anna, a retired software sales manager, of her myriad contributions to the League and Oakland voters. One of the League’s most enthusiastic and indefatigable volunteers, she became a member in 2013, joined our speakers’ bureau in 2016, and currently serves as an executive committee member and vice president.
Doing Her Bit for Democracy
“A democracy doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” says Anna, who grew up in Mumbai, India, and moved to the United States in 1988. “It’s the people who make it work and I feel I should do my bit.”
Anna’s bit translates into some 30 weekly hours of volunteer service, which will easily scale up to 40 hours or more as election day approaches. “It is crunch time,” she says. And Anna is happy to pitch in.
She and fellow League speakers routinely fan out to local community centers, places of worship, and other locations to give attendees a summary of the ballot measures before them. Anna also heads a team that crafts short videos providing a snapshot perspective on local measures. And she is responsible for the League’s social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.
What drives Anna? A strong commitment to protect our democracy at a time when she sees increasing authoritarian trends in the United States, India, and elsewhere. Democracy, she says, is “on much shakier footing than anybody would like it to be.”
Anna's Path to the League
Anna’s path to the League arose from a philosophy instilled in her upbringing that “something in my life should be useful.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, she was eager to live in a culture that she thought would offer her more independence as a woman. Moving to the United States, she earned a doctorate focused on superconductors from the University of Maryland in College Park. Her expertise led her to a Silicon Valley startup and eventually she pivoted to a career at IBM, where she ran software sales training programs.
Anna’s introduction to the League came in 2004 as a newly minted citizen, voter, and Oakland resident. Venturing into a voting booth for the first time, “I was super excited.” Though she’d diligently studied national and state measures, Anna was too busy to research all the local measures and was stumped on how to vote for many of them. “I came away saying, ‘I’m not going to do that ever again,’” she recalls.
Discovering the League—she doesn’t remember exactly how—Anna began using its voter guide materials as a resource from then on. The League, she says, “has a very, very good brand. We are all about good governance but are otherwise nonpartisan and unbiased.”
Gradually finding more time leading up to her retirement in 2018, Anna became an active volunteer. “My retirement is three things—it’s the League, it’s travel with my husband, and pickleball,” she says with a smile. “But this (her League activity) is my purpose.”
We Need the League's Non-partisan, Fact-based Voter Information
The League’s nonpartisan and fact-based research is increasingly valuable, Anna notes, at a time when disinformation is being so widely disseminated. But Anna worries that too few people are exercising their franchise and are effectively leaving decisions about direct-impact issues such as minimum wage guarantees, public safety, and reproductive rights to others. In the November 2022 election, for instance, just 53 percent of eligible voters in Alameda County cast a ballot.
“Often people don’t see the connection between legislation and what’s happening day-to-day,” she says. In local races in particular, “a few votes are making the difference.” Along with encouraging Oaklanders to make use of the League’s resources, Anna hopes residents will join and volunteer. Besides helping to protect democracy and voting rights, your service can pay back with many personal rewards, she notes.
As a League member, Anna has learned about her adopted community of Oakland and its government. She’s also found a solid network of friends. “The people are great,” she says. “It’s very collaborative. Everyone has a sense of wanting to do the right thing.”
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