Fireside Chat – Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib

Lt. Gov. Cyrus Babib was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved with his family to Washington state at the age of eight. He grew up in east King County and graduated from Bellevue International School before attending Columbia University, Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School where he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal. He is also a Truman Scholar and a Soros Fellow. After receiving his law degree, Lt. Gov. Habib returned to Washington state to practice law at Perkins Coie, the region’s largest law fim, where he helped startup technology companies raise venture capital funds and license their software. He went on to represent east King County in the Washington State House of Representatives and the State Senate, where he served as teh DEm Whip and a member of the Democratic leadership team. In 2016 he was elected Washington’s 16th Lt. Gov, becoming the youngest presiding officer in the country. In his role as Lt. Gov., Habib presides over the State Senate, serves as acting-Governor when the Governor is out of the state and maintains a portfolio of issues including Economic Development, Trade, and Higher Education. A three-time cancer surviro, Lt. Gov. Habib has bene fully blind since age eight. His parents immigrated to the U.S. from Iran before he was born, and he is both the first and only Iranian-American official to hold statewide elected office in the United States. Lt. Gov. Habib serves on the boards of a number of civic and onprofit organizations, including the historic 5th Avenue Theatre. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Since 2013, Lt. Gov. Habib has served as a Professor and Distinguished Lawmaker in Residence at Seattle University Law School and teaches courses on legistlative procedure and intellectual property.