Tony Krajewski Thurmond (born August 21, 1968) is an American politician serving as the 28th California State Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a member of the California State Assembly from 2014 to 2018.

Thurmond was born on August 21, 1968, in Monterey, California. His mother, an immigrant from Panama, died when he was six years old, and his father did not return after serving in the Vietnam War.

Following his mother’s death, Thurmond and his younger brother moved to Philadelphia where they were raised by cousins they had not previously met. His cousins practiced Hebrew Pentecostalism, a Black religious tradition with roots in the Old Testament, observing Jewish practices such as keeping a kosher home and celebrating the Sabbath and major Jewish holidays. Growing up in poverty, the family relied on public assistance, including free school lunches.

Thurmond attended Temple University, where he served as student body president, and went on to earn dual master’s degrees in law and social policy and social work from Bryn Mawr College.

In the mid-2000s, Thurmond was the executive director of Beyond Emancipation, a social service agency providing aftercare services to youths leaving the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Alameda County.^{[citation needed]}

At the Golden Gate Regional Center, he was a program manager leading service provision to individuals with developmental disabilities. In 2012 he served as the Senior Director of Community and Government Relations at Lincoln Child Center.^{[better source needed]}

Prior to being elected to the Assembly in 2014, he was a member of the Richmond City Council.^{[citation needed]}

Thurmond was a member of the California Legislative Latino Caucus, California Legislative Black Caucus, and California Legislative Jewish Caucus.^{[citation needed]}