Cari Templeton has lived in Palo Alto for 16 years, and enjoys giving back to her city however she can. She was appointed to the City of Palo Alto’s Planning & Transportation Commission in December 2018, and was elected its Chair in January 2020. She also volunteers with local nonpartisan organizations that focus on voter education and empowerment, including the League of Women Voters.

She is active in politics. She has been a delegate to the California Democratic Party since 2017 and was elected to the board of its Progressive Caucus. She also co-founded a local progressive club. As her club representative, she sat on the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee, where she served on the endorsement committee and the by-laws review committee. In 2020, she was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

After over a decade at Google working on products such as Google Analytics, Doubleclick, and Nest, in 2017 Cari left technical program management to complete her master’s degree at Stanford, after which she dedicated her time to public service. In 2018, she graduated from Emerge California, the premier incubator program for current and future women candidates. She also ran for Palo Alto City Council in 2020. Now, she works on state and local political campaigns in digital strategy helping elect progressives and women.