Mark Baldassare is survey director at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he holds the Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair in Public Policy. From 2007 to 2022, he also served as president and CEO of PPIC. Prior to that, he served as PPIC’s director of research. He is a leading expert on public opinion and survey methodology, and has directed the PPIC Statewide Survey since 1998. He is an authority on elections, voter behavior, and political and fiscal reform, authoring ten books and numerous reports on these topics. He often provides testimony before legislative committees and state commissions. Before joining PPIC, he was a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of California, Irvine, where he held the Johnson Chair in Civic Governance. He has conducted surveys for the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the California Business Roundtable. He holds a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.

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. Currently she is also an associate professor at the University of Virginia, and a board member for the University of California Center for Students, the Kaiser Arbitration Oversight Board, and the Alliance of Retired Chief Justices. She holds a BA and a JD from the University of California, Davis.

Jeff Gonzalez represents Assembly District 36, which includes parts of Imperial and Riverside Counties. He is a combat veteran, small business owner, pastor, and community leader. He also serves as vice chair on both Military and Veterans Affairs and the Water, Parks and Wildlife committees. After two decades of service in the Marine Corps, he became a local pastor, motivated by the loss of ten fellow marines to suicide. He graduated from National University with a bachelor’s degree in homeland security and emergency management and a master’s degree in organizational leadership.

Judith McConnell is administrative presiding justice with the Fourth Appellate District. On September 25, 2003, she was confirmed as Presiding Justice of the court. She served for 23 years as a trial judge in San Diego. She also served as presiding judge of the Juvenile Court and supervising judge of the family, appellate, and civil law and motion departments during her tenure on the Superior Court. She serves as chair of the Chief Justice’s Civic Learning Initiative known as Power of Democracy and for many years has led the branch-wide civic learning effort to improve public understanding of the courts.

David Traversi is the founder of Traversi & Company, the premier business advisory group serving the lower middle market across the US.  His firm provides M&A advisory, executive coaching, strategic advisory, and executive team building services to CEOs in a wide variety of industries. He is also founding chair of TIGER 21’s San Francisco Group 04, a partner in a rock climbing and fitness gym company, and CEO of an AI-driven, app-based relationship and mental health company. As a former lawyer, serial entrepreneur, Wall Street investment banker, CEO of several private and public companies, board member of over a dozen companies, author of a book on leadership, and coach and mentor to scores of entrepreneurs and executives, he brings a diverse and highly valuable set of skills and qualities, and a decidedly relational approach, to all his business and nonprofit interactions, including as a member of the board of directors of the Public Policy Institute of California. He holds an MBA from University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business and a JD from University of California, Davis King School of Law.

Shirley N. Weber, PhD, is California Secretary of State. She has fought to secure and expand civil rights for all Californians, including restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated individuals. Before her appointment she served four terms representing California’s 79th Assembly District, where she chaired the Elections and Redistricting Committee and Budget Subcommittees on Public Safety and Health. She also served as a member and chair of the San Diego Unified School District and as a California Elector, including chairing the California College of Presidential Electors. She has served as a professor at San Diego State University and at California State University at Los Angeles and Los Angeles City College. She received her BA, MA, and PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles.