Biography
Victoria was born in 1961 in Queens, NY to Martin and June Kolakowski. Her father worked his entire career in cardboard manufacturing plants, rising from machine operator to a plant manager. Her mother was a payroll clerk who had a brief but successful career while a teenager as a pop singer. Both are retired and live in Staten Island, NY. Her younger brother, Thomas, is an accountant.
She is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences from New College of Florida in Sarasota, FL; a Master of Sciences in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA; a Master of Sciences in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Orleans, LA. She received a joint Juris Doctor (law) degree and Master of Public Administration (with an emphasis on budget and finance) from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA.
Victoria moved to Berkeley in 1990 along with her ex-spouse, Leslie. She quickly got involved in community and professional leadership activities throughout the Bay Area (see the community section).
She presently resides in Oakland with her spouse Cynthia (see the Family section).
She also received a Masters of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. She served as a chaplain at UCSF Medical Center, and is an ordained minister in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (a denomination with a special ministry to the LGBT community). She is presently on volunteer clergy at New Spirit Community Church in Berkeley.
