Rebecca Dawn Kaplan (born September 17, 1970) is a Canadian-born American attorney, rabbi and politician who has served as an at-large member of the Oakland City Council since 2009.

After an unsuccessful run for Oakland City Council in 2000, Kaplan was appointed to and later elected to an at-large seat on the AC Transit Board of Directors in 2002.

[2] Her childhood was marked by stories of social justice and workers' rights, which inspired her to pursue a career in public service.

She has a bachelor of science in psychology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where, as an undergraduate student, she participated in a group that led the school to divest from apartheid in South Africa and adopt sexual non-discrimination policies.

As an AC Transit director, Kaplan expanded late-night bus services, improved opportunities for walking and biking, and helped the district bring in its first hydrogen fuel cell buses.

[1] In 2009, Oakland's budget shortfall ran into the tens of millions, and as a solution, Kaplan proposed Measure F, which raised taxes on medical cannabis businesses.

Kaplan received national media attention from this initiative, appearing on PBS's NewsHour and Fox Business Network to discuss it.

In August 2017, two Oakland police officers provided traffic assistance to ICE agents as Homeland Security investigations served a federal search warrant in West Oakland regarding a human trafficking investigation that involves children leading to the detainment of two men, neither ever having been convicted or charged with a crime.

[15] The city argued it was not given a real opportunity to buy the county's share of the land, despite Oakland not having adequate money to purchase the site.

"[15] Oakland city councilmember Larry Reid stated that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told Oakland leaders that "Bay Area fans will soon be going to Las Vegas to see the Raiders and that unless things changed, Bay Area fans may be going to Las Vegas or elsewhere to see the A’s as well.

"[16] A few weeks after the lawsuit was filed, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills, AB1191 and SB293, designed to move the new Howard Terminal ballpark forward.