Greatly impacted by the experience of coming home to find her house trashed and robbed as a child, Peggy Z. Huang went on to pursue a career that would allow to her to make a difference and help others. Earning a Bachelor of Science in political science at the University of California Berkeley in 1993, she obtained a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific in 1997. That same year, she embarked on her career as a senate associate with the California State Senate and, between 1998 and 2008, served as staff counsel for Sacramento Child Advocates, the Law Offices of Anne E. Fragasso and the California Department of Social Services.
During her early work in juvenile and family law, Ms. Huang recalls a case in 1999 where she represented a child who had serious anger issues. This child had been acting out at his group home, and she took the extra effort to spend a whole day with him and encouraged him to call her before he did anything going forward. At the hearing two weeks later, he ran over to hug her, calling her his favorite lawyer, and he was able to be reunited with his family in only six months. She stayed in touch for a year after and was, and still is, incredibly proud at how well he was able to do for himself.
Today, Ms. Huang holds additional expertise in public administration, criminal law, environment, housing and water. Since 2008, she has been a member of the board of directors for Lifesteps and the deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice. She has further been active on the Yorba Linda City Council since 2014 and is currently sitting her second term as mayor of Yorba Linda. Throughout this time, she also served as the secretary and first vice chair of the Republican Party of Orange County and a commissioner with the Children and Families Commission of Orange County.
Ms. Huang is presently active as the chair of the Transportation Corridor Agencies, a board member of the St. Jude Memorial Foundation and Chinese-American Elected Officials, a committee member of the General Plan Advisory Council and a school site adviser for Golden Elementary School. Furthermore, she has held membership in numerous professional organizations in support of her career, including Brea Republican Federated Women and the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association, among others. Looking toward the future, Ms. Huang hopes to continue her work providing good housing for people, advocating for children with disabilities and promoting regional transportation.
For her excellence, Ms. Huang received congressional recognition from Rep. Young Tien for her work against Asian American hate. She has also been named to Women in Leadership and the 2019 Alumni of the Year by the Marian Bergeson Excellence in Public Service Series and honored as the first Asian to be elected to the city by the Orange County Bar Association in 2015. In 2020, Ms. Huang was featured among the Top 100 Passionate People by the Taiwanese American Organization and the Top Taiwanese-American Leaders by the Taiwanese American Archives.