Agenda

• Lee Herrick, California Poet Laureate
  
  Moderated by Kristen Go, CalMatters Editor in Chief.

• Amy E. Lerman, Executive Director & Principal Investigator, Possibility Lab, UC Berkeley
  
  Moderated by Neil Chase, CalMatters CEO.

Keynote

• Cesar Fernandez, Head of US State & Local Government Relations, Anthropic

Panel

• Deirdre K. Mulligan, Professor, School of Information and Co-Director, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology 

• Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Member, California State Assembly

• Nicole Ozer, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Democracy
  
  Moderated by Sisi Wei, CalMatters Chief Impact Officer.

• Julián Castro, CEO, Latino Community Foundation

• Kristen Hwang, Health Reporter, CalMatters
  
  Moderated by Neil Chase, CalMatters CEO.

• Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California

• Janet Napolitano, Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
  
  Moderated by Kristen Go, CalMatters Editor in Chief.

From Plus AI to AI Plus: Envisioning Opportunities and Safeguarding Risks

Location: Bondi Room, second floor

What does "AI Plus" look like in practice, and how must California's higher education leaders and institutions rise to the challenge to shape and influence this innovation's potential benefits, rather than merely reacting to it? This panel is curated by the College Futures Foundation.

•  Elizabeth González, Chief Program & Strategy Officer, College Futures Foundation

• Amin Qazi, Chief Innovation Officer & Founder, AQL Labs

• Rahim Rajan, CEO & Founder, AQL Labs

• Binh Thuy Do, Vice President of Research and Development, Calbright College

When AI Changes Work: Fixing the Systems That Haven't Kept Up 

Location: Bataglieri Room, second floor

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how work gets done in California, and the systems designed to support workers—unemployment insurance, workforce training, and labor protections—must catch up. Drawing on new research and emerging principles, we’ll examine where current systems are working and where they are falling short. This panel is curated by the James Irvine Foundation. 

• Lorena Gonzalez, President, California Federation of Labor Unions

• Don Howard, President and CEO, The James Irvine Foundation

• Kara Segal, Senior Research Manager, California Policy Lab

• Adam Echelman, Higher Education and Workforce Reporter, CalMatters

The Economic & Political Power of CA’s Nonprofit Sector

Location: Sheraton Grand Ballroom

From food banks to community clinics, from land trusts to housing providers, and from civil rights advocates to art museums, over 110,000 California nonprofits serve every imaginable need. Nonprofits are both impacted by and exert their influence on state budget and policy, but are often poorly understood as a sector. We’ll highlight the ways government and nonprofits interact and how to build those connections. This panel is curated by CalNonprofits. 

•  Jerry McNerney, Senator, California State Senate and Chair of the Senate Select

• Geoff Green, CEO, CalNonprofits

• Chet Hewitt, President & CEO, Sierra Health Foundation

Childcare: Essential Infrastructure for Families and the Economy

Location: Carr Room, second floor

We’ll discuss a case study around First 5 California’s Raise CA Strong campaign, which is aimed at achieving universal childcare. Raise CA Strong takes an unconventional approach by engaging businesses and the public with facts about the economic impact of the childcare crisis and economic opportunities surrounding solving it. This panel is curated by First 5 California. 

• Jorge De La Cruz, Deputy Director of External and Governmental Affairs, First 5 California

• Stacey Reardon, Senior Director of Strategy, Change Craft

The Possibility Zone
Location: Gardenia Room,  first floor

Policy becomes personal when you convene with other Californians to hash out important policy decisions. Join us for thought-provoking participatory democracy in a board game! This session is presented by the UC Berkeley Possibility Lab.

• Mike Madrid, Co-Founder, Lincoln Project

• Rick Wilson, Co-Founder, Lincoln Project

• George Conway, Co-Founder, Lincoln Project

• Alysia Bell, President, UNITE-LA

• Don Howard, President and CEO, The James Irvine Foundation

• Eloy Ortiz Oakley, President and CEO, College Futures Foundation
  
  Moderated by Neil Chase, CalMatters CEO.

• Lanhee Chen, Fellow in American Public Policy Studies, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University

• Lorena Gonzalez, President, California Federation of Labor Unions

• Dan Walters, Columnist, CalMatters
  
  Moderated by Kristen Go, CalMatters Editor in Chief.

• Buffy Wicks, Member of the California State Assembly

•  Kevin McCarty, Mayor of Sacramento

• Gustavo Velasquez,  Director, California Department of Housing and Community Development
  
  Moderated by Ben Christopher, CalMatters Housing Reporter.