Thida Cornes

The name Thida is Burmese and means ‘water’ or ‘Daughter of the Furrows’.” Thida’s political awareness began at the age of ten when her father took through the slums of Calcutta to meet Mother Teresa. Throughout her childhood, her parents took her to places around the world, because they believed it was an important part of her education. At age 16, she graduated from high school. And her parents sent her to school in London for a year. In London she happened to stay with a family of doctors who knew Dr. Marsden the premier neurologist of movement disorders at the time. She saw him and he diagnosed her with myoclonus dystonia a very rare neurological disorder. At age 17, she attended Bryn Mawr College. She majored in Political Science and began writing political articles for her college newspaper, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. She participated in student government and organized several student groups including Color. Technology also drew her and she worked as a sysadmin and literally put her college on the then new Internet.
After graduating, Thida made her career in technology. She ran her own computer consulting business, but became tired of the snow of Philadelphia. Through the Internet, she found housemates, and decided to moved in with them sight unseen. She leaped into the San Francisco Bay Area where she has lived ever since. She managed people at several engineering startups and a special effects movie studio. Her name appears in the credits of the movie “Starship Troopers.”
She met her husband Castor in a classic Silicon Valley way: a mutual friend worked at his startup. As his startup was dying, their romance bloomed. While it’s debatable whether management prepared her for motherhood, it did at least prepare her for stressful and unexpected situations. In 2001 while working full-time she earned an MBA from UC Berkeley and became pregnant with her first child. Motherhood completely changed her life. She quit her job to become a stay-at-home mother. She became a paid guide for Fertilityfriend.com advising women on their fertility until she realized that something was drastically wrong with her second pregnancy. Her son was born with a life-threatening tumor, which consumed lots of blood. He required chemo, steroids and multiple hospitalizations. She advocated for him and got him the help he needed and he developed into an active thriving fifth grader who compensates well for his disability, has many friends, and scored advanced on all subjects of the school achievement tests.
Thida then started volunteering for her kids’ schools and joined the PTA and Site Council and eventually the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee. In 2009, she was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission for the City of Mountain View. She also became a board member of the Northwest region of Canine Companions for Independence. In 2013 she cofounded Great Streets Mountain View, a Grassroots non-profit to advocate for bike and pedestrian-friendly streets that are beautiful and accessible to all. They are filing as a 501(c3) nonprofit.