Preet Didbal, a Sikh woman, has been elected as a city council member in Yuba City, California. She is the first Sikh woman to have made the achievement in the California town, and is possibly the first Sikh woman to hold a city council position anywhere in the nation.

Preet Didbal, 46, participated in the swearing in ceremony last week. Sworn in by her daughter during the ceremony in Yuba City, Preet Didbal has risen from humble origins to make history within the Sikh community. Her election follows eight years of involvement with the city’s planning commission.

From a family that has worked almost exclusively as farm laborers, Didbal became one of the first to attend college. While there, she earned three degrees – an associate’s degree in nutrition, a master’s degree in public administration, and a bachelor’s in physical education. She currently holds a management position in correctional healthcare services.

Didbal has stated that her main concerns during her term will be education, public safety and children, of which there were several at the swearing-in ceremony. Among the young people attending the ceremony were several young girls who hold Didbal in high esteem for her accomplishments. One young woman, a 15-year-old, said she thought Didbal was “wonderful, because she is telling you to go for it.” An 11-year-old stated her admiration for Didbal and said she thought Didbal would “be good for [the] community.”

Didbal is looking forward to her time on the city council and credits her parents for her success; they took pains to raise their four daughters as they would have raised sons. Didbal says her parents instilled in her the strength she would need to achieve goals such as her election to city council.

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