Tani Cantil-Sakauye is president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, where she holds the Walter and Esther Hewlett Chair in Understanding California’s Future. From 2011 to 2022, she served as the 28th Chief Justice of California and led the judiciary as the chair of the Judicial Council—the constitutional policy and rule making body of the judicial branch—the first person of color and the second woman to do so. Before she was elected statewide as the Chief Justice of California, she served more than 20 years on California appellate and trial courts and was appointed or elevated to higher office by three governors. Earlier in her career she served as a deputy district attorney for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and on the senior staff of Governor Deukmejian, first as deputy legal affairs secretary and later as a deputy legislative secretary. She holds a BA and a JD from the University of California, Davis.

Chet Hewitt is president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and its independent operating partner, the Center for Health Program Management. Since beginning his tenure in 2007, he has focused foundation investments on health disparities, health equity, and the healthy development and well-being of vulnerable youth. Before joining the foundation, he served for five years as the director of Alameda County’s Social Services Agency, where he is credited with transforming its failing child welfare system into a national model and using technology to improve the delivery of human services. Previously, he served as associate director for the Rockefeller Foundation in New York and established and managed its west coast regional office in San Francisco. Chet is a frequent lecturer on philanthropy and public sector leadership and advises organizations across the nation on issues related to the transformation of public systems. He has received numerous awards, including the Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy, an Annie E. Casey Foundation Child and Family Leaders Fellowship, and the Grantland Johnson Intergovernmental Cooperation Award; he has also been named Administrator of the Year by Black Administrators in Child Welfare. In 2021, he was elected to the National Academy of Public Administration for his commitment and contributions to public service. He joined PPIC’s board of directors in 2016 and was elected board chair in 2022. He previously served on the PPIC Statewide Leadership Council.

Anthony Rendon is Speaker of the California State Assembly. He was elected to the Assembly in 2012 to represent the 62nd Assembly District in southeast Los Angeles County, and elected Speaker in 2016. In 2020, he led the Assembly in addressing the COVID-19 crisis in California. Under his leadership, the legislature passed critical legislation to address the health and economic crises of the pandemic, including multiple eviction moratoriums and legislation to support families and small businesses. In 2019, he led the Assembly to conduct one of the most progressive and productive legislative sessions in memory; among the Assembly’s recent accomplishments are the historic changes to law enforcement use of force rules, expanded worker protections, and restrictions on predatory lending. In the 2017–18 legislative session, he led the Assembly in passing a landmark $52 billion transportation funding plan, an extension of California’s cap-and-trade program—a first-of-its-kind clean air measure—and efforts to address the affordable housing crisis. In his first year as speaker, the Assembly passed landmark progressive legislation, including the nation’s first statewide $15 minimum wage, overtime pay for farmworkers, and groundbreaking policies on gun and tobacco use. During his first term in the Assembly, he authored Proposition 1, the $7.5 billion state water bond, and in 2015, he authored Assembly Bill 530, a law that spurs much-needed revitalization of the lower Los Angeles River. As chair of the Utilities and Commerce Committee, he led ongoing efforts to ensure accountability at the California Public Utilities Commission. Prior to serving in the Assembly, he worked as an educator, nonprofit executive director, and environmental activist. He was executive director of Plaza de la Raza Child Development Services, Inc., which provides comprehensive child development and social and medical services to over 2,300 children and families throughout Los Angeles County. Before working at Plaza, he served as the interim executive director of the California League of Conservation Voters from 2008 to 2009. He attended Cerritos Community College and went on to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Fullerton. As a recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, he earned his PhD from the University of California, Riverside and completed post-doctoral work at Boston University.