Matt Matern and Senator Ben Allen talk about bills and environmental issues, and with Sweta Chakraborty, Ph.D. host of the Risky Behavior podcast.
California State Senator Ben Allen was elected in 2014 (and reelected in 2018) to represent the 26th Senate District covering the Westside, Hollywood, and coastal South Bay communities of Los Angeles County.
Ben chairs the Senate’s Environmental Quality Committee and co-chairs the Legislature’s Environmental Caucus, is a member of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, the chairs Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Arts, and is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Aerospace and Defense. He previously served as Chair of the Education Committee (2017-2019) and Chair of the Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee (2015-2016).
Ben has thrown himself into the important work of state government, focusing on wise decision-making and pushing for reforms that address systemic inadequacies in our state. He has authored important laws in a variety of areas, from environmental protection to electoral reform.
As a daughter of immigrant parents from India, Sweta was always instilled with the value of education. She pursued her BS in Decision Science at Carnegie Mellon University and ultimately received her PhD in Risk Management from Kings College London.
Sweta then went on to complete a post doctorate at Oxford University and worked as an adjunct professor at Columbia University. She realized through this academic journey just how fortunate she was to have parents who supported her education and had access to world class institutions that nurtured her curiosity.
