Arnold Sowell Jr.

Arnold Sowell is executive director of NextGen Policy (NGP), a nonprofit organization that works to advance a more equitable, prosperous, and climate resilient California for all. NGP ‘s work focuses across a range of issue areas, including climate, workforce development, higher education, food insecurity, and income inequality. He directs the NGP team’s policy development, legislative advocacy, strategic communications, grassroots organizing, and program activities. Before joining NextGen, he spent two decades in the California State Assembly, serving as policy director for five Assembly Speakers, and over his 30-year career he has also held various high-level positions in state and local government. In 2023 he was honored for his work by the Sacramento Bee’s Equity Lab as one of the Top 20 Black Change Makers in the Capitol Region, and he has appeared on Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 list of professionals influencing change at the state capitol. He holds several key leadership roles, serving on the California State Bar Board of Trustees, the Sierra Health Foundation Board of Directors, and the Veloz Electric Vehicle Board. Additionally, he is an elected member of the Sacramento Natural Foods Cooperative and a member of PPIC’s Statewide Leadership Council. He is an Oregon State University Honors College alumnus and holds an MPP from the University of Washington.