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  Eric Garcetti

  Eric Garcetti is a fourth-generation Angeleno and the 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley — the son of public servants and the grandson and great-grandson of immigrants from Mexico and Eastern Europe — Mayor Garcetti’s life has been shaped by a deep commitment to the core values of justice, dignity, and equality for all people.

  These ideals have fueled the Mayor’s relentless drive to fulfill our common obligation: to give children and families of every race, faith, background, and income the chance to get a good education, live on safe streets, earn a decent wage, breathe clean air and drink clean water, receive affordable medical and child care, and build a future of their own choosing.

  Angelenos are experiencing the remarkable results of his vision and leadership: the Mayor led and won a campaign to pass the boldest local infrastructure initiative in American history, funding a once-in-a-generation expansion of public transportation. He launched the L.A. College Promise, one of the most ambitious higher education access programs in the nation — serving more than 15,000 students, many of whom are overcoming poverty and are the first in their families to pursue the dream of higher education. He is confronting a homelessness crisis by leading an unprecedented regional alliance committed to getting people off the streets and ending chronic homelessness. He put more money in workers’ pockets by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and cut business taxes to help drive a historic economic recovery that has created a record number of jobs in legacy industries like entertainment and aerospace. And in 2018, he formed a historic partnership with the philanthropic sector to refurbish nearly 350 athletic courts across the city — to support his plan for universal sports and fitness programs that are both free and local for all children in Los Angeles.

  The Mayor’s leadership is making an extraordinary impact on the national and international stages: he rallied more than 400 mayors in cities across America to adopt the Paris Climate agreement after the Trump Administration pulled out of the pact. He led the first National Day of Action on Immigration, and has put unprecedented local resources toward providing Dreamers and others with legal aid to fight deportation. He signed America’s strongest earthquake retrofit law to protect thousands of people’s lives from natural disasters. And he successfully led the bid to bring the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to the United States for the first time in more than 30 years. He has lived and worked in Europe, Asia, and Africa and appointed Los Angeles' first Deputy Mayor for International Affairs to expand L.A.’s global ties and bring more jobs, economic opportunity, culture, education, and visitors to the city.

  While Mayor Garcetti has taken on these enormous challenges, he has also reimagined how city government delivers the most basic services. Since July 2013, L.A. has paved 14,750 lane miles of road; cut the average pothole repair time by half; implemented a $1.4 billion plan to repair every sidewalk in every community, and greatly expanded the number of trees in neighborhoods across the city. He created Clean Streets L.A. — a block-by-block assessment of 9,100 miles of streets that identifies neighborhoods with the most needs, and prioritizes delivery of resources. Under his leadership, L.A. has been rated the nation’s best-run city by the Bloomberg What Works Cities initiative and become the number-one solar energy city in America.

  The Mayor’s government service began on the L.A. City Council, where he spent four terms as Council President before being elected Mayor in 2013 and winning re-election in 2017 by the widest margin in the history of Los Angeles.

  Beyond his time at City Hall, Mayor Garcetti has served his country as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, and taught at the University of Southern California and Occidental College.

  The Mayor received his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University, and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and later at the London School of Economics. He is also a jazz pianist and photographer.

  He and his wife, First Lady Amy Elaine Wakeland, are the proud parents of a daughter, Maya, and have been foster parents for more than a decade.

  Eric Garcetti

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  Michael Nutter

  Michael A. Nutter is a former two-term mayor of Philadelphia who previously spent nearly 15 years in the Philadelphia City Council. Since leaving public office in 2016, he has remained active in public policy, government, and civic life. He is the inaugural David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and holds fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. He is a senior advisor and national spokesperson for the What Works Cities program at Bloomberg Philanthropies and a member of the external advisory council for JPMorgan Chase’s AdvancingCities initiative. Mayor Nutter is past President of the United States Conference of Mayors and founder of Cities United. He is on the board of Rubicon Technologies, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Council on Criminal Justice, Heartland Alliance, the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, the Urban Institute and the Advisory Board of the African American Mayor’s Association. Mayor Nutter maintains active involvement in critical areas of education, media, public policy, political campaigns, the corporate community and academic institutions across the country. He holds a B.S. Degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

  Michael Nutter

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  Maya Wiley

  Maya Wiley is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. A nationally respected civil rights attorney, Wiley has been a litigator at the ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc., and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. She has been a program creator in philanthropy, non-profits, government, and higher education. She helped create a criminal justice program for a major foundation in South Africa. Wiley co-founded and led a national policy advocacy organization, the Center for Social Inclusion, now a part of Race Forward, a national policy strategy organization working to end structural racism. She became the first Black woman to be Counsel to a New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, where she worked to protect and expand civil rights, Minority and Women-Owned Business contracts and broadband access. Wiley became a Senior Vice President for Social Justice at the New School University, where she also founded the Digital Equity Laboratory. While there, she chaired the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). As chair, she led the release of the “hold” on proceedings against Daniel Pantaleo whose illegal chokehold killed Eric Garner, and Co-Chaired the Mayor’s School Diversity Advisory Group that authored two major reports on integrating New York City public schools. Wiley has received numerous awards, and has been a public voice for rights, justice, and democracy, through written opinion editorials and as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

  Maya Wiley

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  Martin Luther King, III

  With the past year’s astounding display of social injustice, violence, and confusion around the pandemic, perhaps at no other time in recent history has our world needed the clear thinking and solutions-oriented voice of civil rights advocate and global humanitarian Martin Luther King III.

  From speaking to thousands at the August 2020 March On Washington to his dozens of arrests during peaceful protests, Mr. King is shepherding the healing of our nation and the world, connecting the important lessons of the past with the critical needs of our future and motivating a new generation of authentic leaders.

  As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III is a thought leader on the world stage, a peace maker, and a negotiator on some of today’s most critical national and international platforms for social change. Amplifying the work of his father, Mr. King has devoted his life to promoting global human rights and eradicating racism, violence, and poverty, earning a reputation as a respected international statesman and one of the world’s most passionate advocates for the poor and oppressed.

  With his logical approach to problem-solving, he asks: “If we can live a day in peace, why can’t we live a week in peace? If we can live a week in peace, why can’t we live a month? If we can live a month, why not a year? And if we can achieve a year, why not a lifetime?”

  Mr. King speaks on a variety of topics such as the importance of continuing the struggle for civil rights and taking a stand against adversity, emphasizing the importance of individual action in making his father’s dream a reality and challenging us all to do better.

  Martin Luther King, III

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  Michael Tubbs

  Founder of End Poverty in California and former Mayor of Stockton, CA

  At the age of 26, Michael D. Tubbs became the youngest Mayor of any major city in American history. As Mayor, Tubbs was lauded for his leadership and innovation. Under his stewardship, Stockton was named an “All-America City” in 2017 and 2018, saw a 40% drop in homicides in 2018 and 2019, led the state of California in the decline of officer involved shootings in 2019, was named the second most fiscally healthy city in California and one of the top most fiscally healthy cities in the nation and was featured in an HBO documentary film, Stockton on My Mind.

  Tubbs raised over $20 million dollars to create the Stockton Scholars, a universal scholarship and mentorship program for Stockton students. He is the Founder and Chair of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income.

  Tubbs has been named a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics and The MIT Media Lab, a member of Fortune’s Top 40 under 40, a Forbes 30 under 30 All-star Alumni, the “Most Valuable Mayor” by The Nation, the 2021 Civic Leadership Award winner from The King Center, and 2019 New Frontier Award Winner from the JFK Library. Before taking the helm as Mayor, Tubbs served as a Councilmember for the City of Stockton District 6, was a high school educator, and a fellow for the Stanford Design School and the Emerson Collective.

  The author of the memoir The Deeper the Roots, Tubbs currently serves as the Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility and is the founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC).

  Michael Tubbs

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  Carmen Rojas

  Founder of End Poverty in California and former Mayor of Stockton, CA

  Dr. Carmen Rojas is the president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation. Prior to joining Marguerite Casey Foundation, Dr. Carmen Rojas was the co-founder and former CEO of The Workers Lab, an innovation lab that gives new ideas for and with workers a chance to succeed and flourish. For more than 20 years, Carmen has worked with foundations, financial institutions, and nonprofits to improve the lives of working people across the United States. Carmen currently sits on the boards of Beyond12, Blue Ridge Labs, Children’s Defense Fund, as well as the San Francisco Federal Reserve’s Community Advisory Council, and Confluence’s Racial Equity Initiative Advisory Committee. Carmen holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Fulbright Scholar in 2007.

  Carmen Rojas

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  Andrew Rasiej

  Andrew Rasiej is a civic and social entrepreneur, technology strategist, and Co-Founder of Civic Hall, a collaborative work center, and event space located in New York City supporting a growing community of people and organizations building technology solutions for the public good. Civic Hall is also in the process of constructing a new 85,000 sq. ft.facility called Civic Hall @ Union Square to expand its work and create a new Digital Skills Training center for underserved individuals and communities opening in early 2023. Andrew is also the Founder of annual Personal Democracy Forum the world’s largest and best known gathering focusing on the intersection of technology, politics, and government. He is the Chairman Emeritus of the NY Tech Alliance, a 60,000+-member organization of New Yorkers from diverse industries working in the New York technology ecosystem. He is the Founder of MOUSE.org, which provides technology education in public schools in New York and many other global locations. He was a founding Senior Technology Advisor to the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington DC organization using technology to help make government more transparent and accountable. Andrew lives and works near Union Square in New York City, and can be followed on twitter at @Rasiej.

  Andrew Rasiej

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  Henry Elkus

  Henry Elkus is the Founder and CEO of Helena; a unique organization focused on finding solutions to critical societal problems and implementing them through Helena Projects. Henry is passionate about creating systems that can be leveraged to enact scalable, systemic change. Henry founded Helena when he was a 19-year-old student at Yale. Since its founding in 2015, Helena Projects have included: America In One Room, which garnered the attention of President Barack Obama and The New York Times for one of the most significant political experiments in US history; Factory in the Sky, which supported the development and construction of the world's first carbon capture factory; Shield, which worked to protect the electrical grid from foreign and domestic threats; The Covid Project, which supplied tens of millions units of medical supplies and personal protective equipment to frontline responders during the COVID-19 pandemic; A1R: 2.0 Climate & Energy to determine where Americans stand on climate change; and Oceanix, the world's first floating city: which he discussed at the 2022 SxSW Conference.

  Henry Elkus

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  Alex Niemczewski

  Alex Niemczewski is CEO and co-founder of BallotReady, an award-winning voter guide to every race and referendum on the ballot. Previously she founded a human-centered design consulting firm and taught coding at the Booth School of Business and The Starter League. She has a background in workforce development and is an alum of the University of Chicago. She was recognized in Crain’s Chicago Business “20 in their 20’s” list, Techweek100, and as a Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation Fellow.

  Alex Niemczewski

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  Eric Wilson

  Eric Wilson is a political technologist driving innovation and digital transformation in the Republican party. He’s a veteran of numerous campaigns, having led Marco Rubio’s digital team during his 2016 campaign for president, served as digital director of Ed Gillespie’s campaign for Virginia Governor in 2017 and US Senate in 2014, and advised on digital strategy for the National Republican Senatorial Campaign in 2016 and the Liberal Party of Australia in 2016.

  Today, he is a Senior Vice President at Bullpen Strategy Group , an insights-focused public affairs advocacy and strategic advisory firm.

  Eric is the managing partner of Startup Caucus, an investment fund and incubator for Republican campaign technology startups. Each week, he shares actionable tips and strategies for Republicans to build winning online campaigns at BestPracticeDigital.com.

  Eric is the Director of the Center for Campaign Innovation , a non-profit research and training center guiding conservatives through the digital transformation of politics. Named Campaigns & Election’s “2021 Technology Leader of the Year” and a Harvard Ash Center Technology & Democracy Fellow (2019-2021), he’s frequently interviewed by the media about campaigns and technology and regularly speaks domestically and internationally about the digital transformation of politics.

  He’s a proud graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas.

  Eric and his wife have a daughter and son and live in the Washington, D.C. area.

  Eric Wilson

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  Jessica Salinas

  Jessica Salinas is Chief Investment Officer at New Media Ventures, an early stage impact fund investing in progressive social innovation. As CIO, Jessica is responsible for developing NMV's investment strategy, cultivating early-stage deal flow and portfolio management, building mission-driven partnerships, and leading the growth and direction of the investment team.

  Previously, she was a partner at an impact fund moving the world towards zero poverty, zero disease and zero pollution. Jessica was also the founding Social Impact Lead at Headspace and the founding Director of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Education Program, where she co-authored the first national research report on the “State of US Latino Entrepreneurship”.

  Jessica serves on the Board of Words Uncaged, which provides programming for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals in LA, and Plug in South LA, a network supporting Black & Brown entrepreneurs in LA. Jessica received her BA in Communication from Stanford and her MS in Social Entrepreneurship from USC Marshall School of Business.

  Jessica Salinas

A part of the Newmark Civic Life Series of Recanati-Kaplan Talks