Khanh Pham (born 1978) is an American politician and activist currently serving as a member of the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents the 23rd district, which consists of a portion of

Southeast Portland Southeast Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon. Boundaries and features Southeast Portland stretches from the warehouses along the Willamette River through historic Ladd's Addition to the Hawthorne and Belmont districts out to ...

Northeast Portland Northeast Portland is one of the six major divisions of Portland, Oregon. Northeast Portland contains a diverse collection of neighborhoods. For example, while Irvington and the Alameda Ridge feature some of the oldest and most expensive homes i ...

, and the city of Maywood Park. She previously served in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

from 2021 to 2025, representing the 46th district. Pham is considered one of the most progressive members of the Oregon Legislature.

Early life and education

The daughter of refugees from

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, Pham was born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. When she was 11, Pham moved to

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

with her family. In 2001, she earned a Bachelor's degree from

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1867 and is situated on the historic M. Lloyd Frank Estate in South Portland's Collins View neighborhood. It is composed of three distinct but adjac ...

, studying Sociology/Anthropology, and Political Economy. She later earned a Master's degree in Urban Studies from

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

Career

Early career

From 2004-2011, Pham worked for various non-profits

Global Fund for Women The Global Fund for Women is a non-profit foundation funding women's human rights initiatives. It was founded in 1987 by New Zealander Anne Firth Murray, and co-founded by Frances Kissling and Laura Lederer to fund women's initiatives aroun ...

, Hesperian Health Guides, Refugee Transitions, and the "Making Contact" radio program. From 2011-2014, she was a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

student researcher at

, specializing in

climate adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, both current and anticipated.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger ...

and equity planning. From 2015 to 2020, she worked as a community organizer on

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

and

climate justice Climate justice is a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of clima ...

at Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon and at OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, and helped launch the Oregon Just Transition Alliance. In 2016-2018, she helped co-found and lead the Portland Clean Energy Fund initiative campaign, which passed in 2018 and is currently raising millions of dollars to reinvest in community-led projects to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

while providing community benefits, particularly to low-income and marginalized communities.

Oregon House of Representatives

After incumbent Democrat Alissa Keny-Guyer announced that she would not seek re-election in the 2020 election, Pham announced her candidacy to succeed her. Pham won the Democratic primary, defeating former County Commissioner Jeff Cogen. In the November 2020 general election, she did not face a Republican challenger. Pham assumed office on January 11, 2021. In the 2021 legislative session, Pham helped pass HB 2021 Clean Energy for All, a bipartisan bill to move Oregon's electricity grid to

100% renewable energy 100% renewable energy is the goal of the use renewable resources for all energy. 100% renewable energy for electricity, heating, cooling and transport is motivated by climate change, pollution and other environmental issues, as well as ec ...

by 2040. Pham also helped to win a $185 million joint investment package from the state and local governments to improve

road traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, Driving, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and p ...

on 82nd Avenue and transfer ownership of 82nd Ave from the state of Oregon to the city of Portland. Following the

2021 Taliban offensive The 2021 Taliban offensive was a Offensive (military), military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and allied militants that led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year War in Afghanistan (200 ...

, Pham was chosen to lead a task force alongside representative Kayse Jama to coordinate the resettlement of 1,200 refugees from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in Oregon. Pham was reelected in the

2022 Oregon House of Representatives election The 2022 Oregon House of Representatives election was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Primary elections were held on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Voters in the 60 districts of the Oregon House of Representatives elected their representatives. The e ...

. In 2023, Pham advocated for the "Protect Local Journalism Act" to fund emergency grants to

local news In journalism, local news refers to coverage of events, by the news, in a local context that would not be of interest to another locality, or otherwise be of national or international scope. Local news, in contrast to national or international new ...

outlets. In September 2023, Pham announced she would run for the

Oregon Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

in the 23rd district, a seat being vacated by the retiring Michael Dembrow.

Committee Assignments (2025)

* Senate Committee on Housing and Development, ''Chair'' * Joint Committee on Transportation * Joint Committee on Interstate 5 Bridge * Senate Committee on Labor and Business * Senate Committee on Energy and Environment

Personal life

Pham and her husband, Hector, have one daughter. She and her family live in the Jade District of

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

Electoral history

External links

Legislature website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pham, Khanh Living people 1978 births American women of Vietnamese descent in politics Politicians from Oklahoma City People from Irvine, California Oregon Democrats Lewis & Clark College alumni Portland State University alumni Politicians from Portland, Oregon Asian-American state legislators in Oregon American women of Asian descent in politics 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians of Asian descent Women state legislators in Oregon 21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly