James H. Coleman

James Hsuchen Coleman (; born June 3, 1999) is an American politician currently serving on the South San Francisco City Council, representing District 4. Elected at the age of 21, he is one of the youngest elected officials in the United States. Early life and education Coleman was born in South San Francisco. His mother is a Taiwanese immigrant who works as a lab technician at Kaiser Permanente. His father was a FedEx worker and died when James was 16. Coleman graduated from South San Francisco High School in 2017, and from Harvard University in 2021. At Harvard, Coleman majored in human developmental and regenerative biology with a minor in government. He conducted undergraduate research in the Sahay Lab, a neuroscience laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. Coleman was also active in Harvard's fossil fuel divestment campaign from 2018 to 2020, in which Harvard announced their intentions to divest on September 9, 2021. Political career Coleman was elected to the South San Francisco City Council in the middle of his senior year at college in 2020, defeating 18-year incumbent Richard Garbarino with 52.27% of the vote. He became the city's youngest ever and first openly LGBTQ+ council member.