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.

Deborah Gonzalez is vice president of government affairs and chief data officer at PPIC. She and her staff work to connect PPIC research with policymakers and community leaders. A longtime Capitol staffer, she served as policy and fiscal director for six legislative leaders and worked on a wide variety of issues—including the state budget, education reform, infrastructure funding, and public safety. She holds a law degree from the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, and a BA from Claremont McKenna College, where she majored in international relations.

Gale Kaufman is president of Kaufman Strategies, a strategic consulting firm dedicated to guiding clients through California’s complex political process. Known for her decades of expertise navigating California’s unique political landscape, she is recognized for her leadership on hundreds of California State Senate and Assembly campaigns and she has gained national and state notoriety for victories on many prominent statewide ballot initiative campaigns. One of her most notable triumphs was defeating a series of four ballot measures in the 2005 statewide special election when she was the lead consultant for the Alliance for a Better California. She has run at least one initiative every campaign season since. She was inducted into the American Association of Political Consultants Hall of Fame, as well as the Hall of Fame of Capitol Weekly’s annual Top 100 list. She has served as a political consultant to the California Teachers Association for thirty years.

Eric McGhee is a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, and policy director for the Understanding California’s Future research initiative tasked with exploring key trends and challenges facing the state. He focuses on elections, legislative behavior, political reform, and demography. His research on elections and electoral reform has appeared in numerous academic journals, and his work has been profiled on National Public Radio, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and The Economist. He is the creator of the “efficiency gap”—a widely used measure of gerrymandering—and coauthor of a legal test based on the measure that has been presented before the US Supreme Court in high-profile litigation. Before joining PPIC, he was assistant professor of political science at the University of Oregon and served as a congressional fellow through the American Political Science Association. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Rob Stutzman is founder and president of Stutzman Public Affairs, a Sacramento-based firm specializing in campaigns, communications, crisis management, and award-winning political advertising. He was deputy chief of staff for communications to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in which capacity he oversaw press, speechwriting, and public appearances for the governor. He also served as co-communications director in the 2003 California recall that placed Schwarzenegger in office. Previously, he worked in state and national political campaigns and for elected officials. Notably, he served as communications director for the California Department of Justice and Attorney General’s Office. He is a frequent speaker on California politics and public policy and regularly appears on television news shows as a political commentator. His opinion articles have been published in most major California newspapers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Point Loma College in San Diego.