Kala Babu immigrated to California from southern India as a toddler, moving from the coastal city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to the concrete jungles of the Bay Area. She later relocated to San Luis Obispo to pursue an undergraduate degree at Cal Poly. Standing in the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean, she felt everything inside her finally settle. After graduation, Kala spent a few years away to serve as an AmeriCorps member in Appalachia and receive her J.D. at UC Davis, always knowing she would return to the Central Coast. Now, she lives in the Five Cities area and works remotely for the Los Angeles Superior Court, where she drafts legal rulings for mass-tort silicosis cases and other complex matters.
On weekday evenings, Kala teaches Federal Environmental Law at Cal Poly, volunteers with the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, and helps manage the Central Coast Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
On her weekends, Kala is usually paddle boarding in Avila, binge-reading her way through her TBR list, or starting another home renovation project. Over the past 12 years, Kala has visited our Central Coast state parks countless times to ponder a major life decision or celebrate a turn of the tides. She understands how communion with nature can steady the soul and redirect the mind. As a Board Member, she hopes to connect more Cal Poly students to our parks through CCSPA and foster deeper relationships between the university and the wild spaces surrounding it.
