Sumangala Kailasapathy - Ann Arbor

Sumangala (“Sumi”) Kailasapathy (b. 1967) is a CPA and Ann Arbor City Council member and has represented Ward 1 since 2012. A Democrat, she was re-elected to a second two-year term in November 2014.

Sumi Kailasapathy at a December 2012 Ann Arbor city council meeting. (Photo courtesy of The Ann Arbor Chronicle.)Kailasapathy is a native of Sri Lanka who has been living in the United States since the early 1990s. She and her family have been Ann Arbor residents since 1997.

Kailasapathy attended Wellesley College and received a dual undergraduate degree in economics and political science. She earned her MA and a MPhil in political science from the New School for Social Research.

She taught gender studies, international political economy and globalization at Eastern Michigan University for 10 years. She is employed as a CPA at a downtown Ann Arbor firm, Edwards, Ellis, Armstrong & Company, P.C.

Kailasapathy is married to Giri Jogaratnam, a professor at Eastern Michigan University. They have two children, Ashwin and Keshav (ages 17 and 11, respectively, in 2014).

From an August 2012 post in The Sunday Leader:

Kailasapathy has her roots in Sri Lanka’s academe, as the daughter of the late Prof. K. Kailasapathy (Tamil scholar and first President, University of Jaffna) and Sarvam Kailasapathy (formerly Development and Gender Advisor, Canadian International Development Agency). Sumi is also the daughter-in-law of Prof. T. Jogaratnam (Peradeniya Agriculture) and the wife of Giri Jogaratnam, Professor of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Eastern Michigan University. Sumi’s sister Dr. Pavithra Kailasapathy is Head, Department of Human Resources Management of the University of Colombo (in Sri Lanka).

Timeline: Sumi Kailasapathy

Nov. 4, 2014: Kailasapathy is re-elected to a second two-year term on the Ann Arbor City Council representing Ward 1. She was unopposed in the general election.
Aug. 5, 2014: Defeats Don Adams in the Democratic primary. Kailasapathy received 1,113 votes (56.8%) compared to 840 (42.8%) for Adams.
November 2012: Wins the general election to become a Ward 1 city council representative. She was unopposed.
August 2012: Wins the Democratic primary race in Ward 1, defeating Eric Sturgis. Sturgis gets 628 (42%) of the votes, compared to Kailasapathy’s 863 (58%). She had received endorsements from sitting councilmembers Mike Anglin (Ward 5) and Jane Lumm (Ward 2).
August 2010: Loses the Democratic primary election in Ward 1 to incumbent Sandi Smith. Kailasapathy gets 833 votes (45%) compared to 1,004 votes for Smith (55%).
April 2010: Submits petitions to run for Ward 1 city council in the August Democratic primary.
October 2008: Starts working as an accountant at Edwards, Ellis, Armstrong & Company, P.C., a downtown Ann Arbor firm.
1998 - 2008: Taught gender studies, international political economy and globalization at Eastern Michigan University
1997: Moves to Ann Arbor.
1996: Receives a masters degree from the New School for Social Research.
1994: Receives a BA from Wellesley College in economics/political science.
DATE? Studied at the University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka. She fled the country during the Sri Lankan civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers.