Bonnie Lowenthal

President, Board of Harbor Commissioners, Port of Long Beach

Biography:
Bonnie Lowenthal is President of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, elected to the post in July 2024 by her colleagues on the five-member Board. The Harbor Commission manages the City’s Harbor Department and oversees the nation’s second-busiest seaport.

Ms. Lowenthal was first named to the Commission in July 2017 by then-Mayor Robert Garcia, and current Mayor Rex Richardson’s reappointment to a second and final six-year term was unanimously approved by the Long Beach City Council in May 2023. During her tenure, she has served a previous one-year term as President and two one-year terms as Vice President and Secretary. She brings a broad history of public service and deep experience in the City of Long Beach, formerly serving as a state Assemblymember, Long Beach City Councilmember, Vice Mayor, and member of the Long Beach Unified School District Board.

During her three terms in the State Assembly, Ms. Lowenthal’s district included the Long Beach/Los Angeles port complex – the nation’s largest – and one of the most diverse populations in the state. She helped deliver more than 18,000 good-paying transportation-related jobs during the height of the Great Recession and protected the employment rights of thousands of workers, while standing up for children, seniors, and the environment. She authored laws to develop the California Freight Plan, protect coastal waters from invasive species, make it easier for older adults to stay in their homes, encourage state workers to blow the whistle on wrongdoing, and make it easier for school districts to give kids a safe ride to school. She wrote laws that bring additional federal funds to foster youth, protect injured workers from unjust medical bills, and reduce the cost of prison healthcare by millions of dollars a year. Her leadership positions in the State Assembly included chairing the Assembly Committee on Transportation, the Legislative Women’s Caucus, the Joint Committee on Emergency Management, and the Select Committee on Ports. She served as a member of the committees on Accountability and Administrative Review, Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials, Health, Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy and other select committees.

Ms. Lowenthal currently serves her community on the St. Mary Medical Center Ambassador Board, the U.S. Vets Advisory Board, the Children Today Board of Directors, the Linc Housing Board of Directors and the Jewish Family and Children’s Service Board of Directors. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin and a Master’s of Science in Community and Clinical Psychology from California State University, Long Beach.

Bonnie Lowenthal lives in the Carroll Park neighborhood with her longtime partner, Evan Braude, an attorney and former Long Beach City Councilmember. She has two adult children with her former husband, U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal, and four grandchildren.