Sarah Bohn is vice president and director of the PPIC Economic Policy Center and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, where she holds the John and Louise Bryson chair in policy research. She is also a member of the PPIC Higher Education Center. As the founding director of the PPIC Economic Policy Center, she leads research and engagement to inform California policymaking to support greater opportunity and upward mobility for workers, families, and businesses statewide. A labor economist, her research focuses on the job market, workforce skills, and the role of education and government programs in upward mobility. Her other areas of expertise include immigration policy, poverty measurement, income inequality, and career technical education. Her work has been published in major academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Demography, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, and The Review of Economics and Statistics. Previously she served as vice president of research at PPIC. She holds a PhD in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

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.

John Chiang is a member of the board of directors of Astrana Health. He was California’s State Treasurer from 2015 until 2018. As the state’s banker, he oversaw trillions of dollars in annual transactions, managed a $75 billion investment portfolio, and was the nation’s largest issuer of municipal bonds. Prior to being elected treasurer, he was State Controller from 2007 through 2014. Previously, he served two terms on California’s Board of Equalization, including three years as chair. He has served as an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, a Hunt-Kean Fellow, and a fellow at the University of Southern California Center for the Political Future. As well as serving on the PPIC board of directors, he is a  board member with Chijet Motors, Pasadena Private Lending, Boom Interactive, and Chime TV. In addition, he serves on the advisory boards of GrubMarket and Adept Development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of South Florida and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Lorena Gonzalez is president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO—the first woman and first person of color to be elected to the post. Under her leadership, the Federation has built a stronger, more accessible labor movement through prioritizing all forms of organizing and building solidarity across unions. She has dedicated her career to expanding workers’ rights through organizing, politics, and legislation. From transforming the San Diego region as head of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, to passing landmark labor laws in the State Assembly, to her historic leadership of the California Federation of Labor Unions, she has relentlessly championed the cause of the working class.  Her efforts have achieved groundbreaking advances for millions of working Californians—including paid sick leave for all employees, overtime pay for farmworkers, and the strongest laws in the nation against worker misclassification and wage theft. She has revived the member-to-member political program to build engagement and power for all union families. These historic victories established California at the forefront of labor policy and set a national agenda on workers’ rights. As both a legislator and labor leader, she has been a leader in tackling emerging technology in the workplace, including creating protections against dangerous warehouse production quotas at Amazon and leading the fight to establish guardrails for the use of AI. She currently serves as the national co-chair of AFL-CIO State Federation AI Task Force and on the Public Policy Institute of California’s Statewide Leadership Council. She is a graduate of Stanford University and earned a master’s degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from UCLA.

Lance Hastings is president and CEO of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA). Under his leadership, CMTA passed historic legislation to provide a Manufacturing Investment Credit for manufacturing equipment with a broad, bipartisan support. Before joining CMTA, he served as MillerCoors’s vice president of national affairs. Previously, he was the vice president of government relations at the California Grocers Association and senior director for state affairs at the Grocery Manufacturers of America. He also served as legislative staff in the California State Legislature for almost a decade. He has served on the board of directors of the Sacramento State Alumni Association, the Sacramento State University Foundation, the Red Cross Sierra-Delta Chapter, the Los Angeles County Business Federation, and the Food Industry Association Executives. In addition to being on the PPIC Economic Policy Center Advisory Council, he also has served on the advisory boards of the California Association for Local Economic Development and was appointed to the California Future of Work Commission by Governor Newsom. He earned his BA in economics and a minor in government, and has an MBA from California State University, Sacramento.