Theresa Mah earned a B.A. in history from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991 and a Ph.D. in U.S. social and cultural history, race and ethnicity, and Asian American history from the University of Chicago in 1999. Mah's career experience includes working as a senior policy advisor to former Governor Pat Quinn "Pat Quinn (Former governor of Illinois)"). a community development and policy consultant with the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, and an adjunct professor in Asian American studies with the University of Illinois at Chicago. She served on the Illinois Advisory Council on Bilingual Education and the board of directors for Common Cause Illinois.