Nate Shinagawa represents the 4th district in the eastern part of the city of Ithaca — the county’s most diverse and densely populated district. Its residents live in the Collegetown commercial district, Cornell’s West Campus residences, and the beautiful and historic neighborhoods of East Hill.

On the Legislature, Nate currently serves as the Chair of the Government Performance and Workforce Relations (GPWR) Committee. In 2008, Nate chaired the Budget and Capital Committee and negotiated and facilitated the first on-target, bipartisan budget in years. In 2007, Nate led the Health and Human Services Committee where he sponsored and passed resolutions urging statewide universal health care and unemployment insurance reform. That year, he also sponsored resolutions to provide funds for a security deposit assistance and  a childcare program for working families . Nate has also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Air Services Board (Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport).

While an undergraduate at Cornell University, Nate was an activist in worker’s rights, civil rights advocacy, and environmental conservation groups. With the support of grassroots organizations both at Cornell and in the city of Ithaca, he chose to run for the Legislature upon graduation. Over the course of the election he secured the endorsements of the Working Families Party of NY, the LGBT Democratic Club, the SEIU Local 1199, and dozens of local leaders. Nate won a competitive three-way primary and was unopposed in the general election. At age 22, he became the youngest county legislator in the history of Tompkins County, New York.

Nate grew up in the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of Roseland, within the California city of Santa Rosa. He saw how the city, despite its growing wealth, continued to disenfranchise and neglect his neighborhood. Rampant sprawl, gang violence, and crumbling city infrastructure were the norm for his side of town. As someone who has personally experienced the result of government shying away from its responsibilities; Nate works to make sure the same doesn’t happen here in Tompkins County, and that the focus always remains on the health and well-being of the people first.

Nate also serves on the board of the Ithaca Asian American Association. In 2006, Shinagawa was named the area’s top legislator on behalf of working families by the Central New York Labor Council (SEIU, UAW, IBEW, etc.). In 2008, the Japanese American Citizen’s League named Nate a Rising Champion in the Asian American community.

Nate is a 4th generation Japanese and Korean American. He attended Colby College, the University College of London, and graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. He also holds a Masters in Health Administration from the Cornell University Sloan Program in Health Administration. In addition to serving on the County Legislature, Nate is an Administrative Director at Robert Packer Hospital, part of the Guthrie Healthcare System.