Rhut Vasavada
for School Board.

I was born in India and grew up in Alabama, where I attended public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Education opened doors for me and eventually took me to Duke University, where I earned an undergraduate degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in Engineering Management.

For more than a decade, I’ve worked as a product manager, currently at Adobe and previously at companies including Dropbox, Google/Alphabet, and Deloitte. My work is fundamentally about listening, understanding complex problems, using data thoughtfully, making difficult tradeoffs, and bringing people with different perspectives together to build something better.

My family and I have called Belmont home since February 2019. My wife, Hetal, serves on Belmont’s Parks & Recreation Commission and is a UC Master Gardener. Our daughter, Elara, is a fifth grader at Central Elementary. Being a BRSSD parent has given me a firsthand appreciation for the teachers, staff, families, and community members who make our schools special.

Community service has become a big part of my life in Belmont. For the past five years, I’ve served as Cubmaster of Cub Scouts Pack 83, after previously serving as a den leader. Through Scouts, our families have organized food drives benefiting Samaritan House, participated in coastal cleanups, supported school events, and taken on beautification and service projects around Belmont.

At Central Elementary, I’ve also had the chance to pitch in directly. I co-led Discovery Day last year, helped with Kiddie Valet, and volunteered at various school activities. Those moments have let me see the care that goes into making school a welcoming place for children and families.

I’m also a Freemason, part of a longstanding fraternal tradition centered on character, fellowship, charitable work, and community service.

I believe learning shouldn’t end when formal schooling does. Over the years, I’ve continued taking classes at the College of San Mateo and Cañada College simply because I wanted to learn something new — including Spanish, photography, swimming, and other subjects that interested me.

Outside of work and volunteering, I tend to believe variety is the spice of life. I enjoy being active outdoors, traveling, practicing jiu-jitsu, and trying things I’ve never done before. One of my favorite traditions is our family’s “Friday Fundays,” when friends and neighbors get together, share a meal, and give the kids a chance to simply be kids.

Belmont is where we are raising our family, building friendships, volunteering, and putting down roots. I care deeply about keeping it a community where families feel connected to one another and where our public schools continue to be something we are proud to support.