About Letty
Mother. Wife. Marketing and financial services professional turned community advocate. Hardworking, critical thinker, who is deeply committed to the Falls Church community, progressive values, and doing things right the first time. Runner, puppy lover, baker, and someday, one can hope, backyard chicken farmer.
I am a mother of three boys who will be attending three of the five FCCPS schools this year: a 2nd grader at Mt. Daniel, a 5th grader at Thomas Jefferson, and (gasp!) a 6th grader at Mary Ellen Henderson.
I am a first generation immigrant from Hong Kong and spent my childhood in both San Francisco and Northern Virginia. Our love for the City of Falls Church and FCCPS runs deep. My husband, Lucas, is a “lifer” – raised in the City and attended all of our City’s schools. My mother-in-law, a teacher, worked at Mt. Daniel for many years. I earned a B.A. in economics and psychology as an Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia (go Hoos!) and also studied health care economics at Oxford University. After college, we returned to Falls Church as newly married, young professionals and set down our own family’s roots. I am proud to have called the Little City home for more than 16 years and have witnessed the evolution of our community.
I spent 11 years as a financial services and marketing professional at Capital One where I led complex, multi-million dollar, cross functional projects and teams. From full-time working mother to compressed work weeks and every flexible work arrangement in between, I was fortunate to have tried it all. I finally hit pause on my career when my youngest son was born.
After awakening from the fog that is surviving 3 kids under the age of 5, I wanted to contribute in new ways and serve a community that has long supported my family. I began attending city meetings, and I saw the powerful impact of local government. Local government touches our everyday lives – schools to libraries to sidewalks to playgrounds – far more than any other level of government. Yet there were few, if any, voices that represented my cohort. In 2015, I made the leap to run for a City Council seat as a new voice for Falls Church.
Since my election in 2015, I have served on the City Council’s Economic Development Committee and have been an active liaison to several boards and commissions that have aligned with my passions: the Economic Development Authority, Housing Commission, Recreation and Parks Advisory Board, and Arts and Humanities Council. I bring my strong communication, organization, and analytical skills to city policy decisions, do my homework and ask tough questions in every meeting, host regular open office hours, and write a weekly blog about our local government.