Assembly member.

• Position: Q + a - Interview

Fiona Ma's life seems the stuff of dreams: born to immigrant parents and now making history as the highest-ranking Asian-American woman in the state Legislature.

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Ma has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, a master's degree in Taxation from Golden Gate University and an MBA from Pepperdine Unversity

Her CPA career started in the tax department of Ernst & Whinney's Manhattan office, followed by five years working for Ernst and Young in San Francisco. Next, Ma joined the tax practice at Ghiasi & Company, where she worked for 10 years, specializing in real estate, hospitality and high net worth individuals, after which a series of events led her into public office.

Ma's ties to her roots remain strong, as she's taken her local concerns to Sacramento--along with her skills as a CPA.

California CPA talked with Ma (D-San Francisco) about her journey to the Capitol and Sacramento politics.

California CPA: You were born and raised in NY, what brought you to the West Coast? When and why did you decide to become a CPA?

FM: My grandparents moved to San Francisco in 1980. My grandfather was a minister and he relocated to a church there. My mom was an only child and wanted to be close to her parents. Mom and Dad really loved the diversity of the city, so they decided to move, and the kids all moved out with them after we graduated from college.

My parents were born in China, which meant that growing up, I pretty much had four choices for a profession: lawyer, engineer, accountant or doctor. My parents saw getting a good education and entering one of these professions as the American dream, and the key to success. I was always good at math, so they thought accounting would be good for me.

California CPA: With the many options available for CPAs--public practice, industry and education, among them--how did you end up in public office?

FM: I never thought I would be in public office--ever. Being an accountant is an honorable profession to Chinese parents, while being a politician is completely foreign to them. But it was something I fell into.

I was selected to be president of the Asian Business Association in 1995. While I was president, the one big issue we worked on was reauthorizing the Women Minority Business Enterprise legislation, which gives certain preferences to local, minority-owned businesses for contracting in the public sector.

Getting that legislation reauthorized to help small businesses in San Francisco was my entree into politics. This was after I left Ernst & Young and had started a small practice. I had to get out and network for business.

After I became ABA president, I started to lobby the local board of supervisors and the mayor. I also had to go to Sacramento to testify. More broadly, my involvement in this issue allowed me to participate on the 1995 White...