NEW YORK: Raji Brar, a businesswoman from Kern County and a prominent member of the Sikh community of Indian origin, has been appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees, a pos of significant authority in the nation's largest system of public higher education.

Brar, a California State University (CSU), Bakersfield double alumna, will be welcomed on board at its meeting in Long Beach in May. She said in a university statement, "The CSU is so great because your teachers get to know you.

They give you access to opportunities and mentor you at a level you can't obtain at a UC. Many people who do choose to attend a CSU need a mentor, and I was fortunate to find one at CSUB. After earning my degree and master's, I was incredibly self-assured, and there are countless more students with similar struggles. Brar has been the owner and COO of Countryside Corporation since 2003. She is also a co-founder of the Bakersfield Sikh Women's Association and has held other leadership positions in Kern County.

She is a member of the CSUB Alumni Hall of Fame and holds a bachelor of science in biology and a master of science in health care from the university.

Brar, a first-generation American, is the oldest child of Sikh immigrants from Punjab who arrived in the US in the middle of the 1970s with little and first brought up their kids in Central Valley farm labour camps. Her mother only got as far as the fifth grade and can't read or write, Brar said

Raji's numerous acts of compassion and unwavering dedication to public service reveal a light within her that she shares with the entire community, according to CSUB President Lynnette Zelezny.

"She will bring a special perspective to the Board of Trustees, and her voice will do a great job of representing this Valley that we adore. The Roadrunner family and our community can be proud of this. Brar is the third person affiliated with CSUB to serve on the Board of Trustees, following terms by student Krystal Raynes and alumnus John Nilon.

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