Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Armenian American Committee Endorses Felita Kealing in Pasadena School Board Race

The Pasadena chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America has endorsed Felita Kealing, a longtime Pasadena Unified School District employee, for the District 1 seat on the district’s Board of Education in the November 2026 general election, the chapter announced.

The chapter called Kealing a leader who will certainly champion students and families in Pasadena and Altadena.

“Ms. Kealing has a firm grasp of the issues afflicting the school district and an understanding of what it would take to remedy the issues of concern for both the district’s children and their parents and those of the Armenian American community whose children attend the district’s schools,” chapter board member Harout Kazarian said.

Kealing, an Altadena resident raised in the district’s schools and the parent of two district graduates, is campaigning on student achievement, parent engagement and connection, and community involvement, the chapter said.

She plans to build on the district’s recent progress, the chapter said.

“When they entrust us with their most precious asset, their children, their voices matter,” Kealing said of parents.

The chapter said she will partner with local organizations, businesses, and institutions of higher learning to bring more resources to students.

Since 2014, Kealing has worked at the district’s Thurgood Marshall Secondary School, the chapter said. She is a founding member of the African American Parent Council and has been a member of the Pasadena Educational Foundation board for 12 years, three as board president, according to the chapter.

Kealing and her family lost their Altadena home of 25 years in the Eaton Fire in January 2025, the chapter said.

“The strongest communities are built by people who show up for one another,” she said.

Her candidacy has also been endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party (D41); the Pasadena chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus; PUSD School Employees, Teamsters Local 986; and the California School Employees Association, Chapter 434, according to the chapter.

The Pasadena chapter, founded in 1979, describes itself as a nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots organization.