Lande Ajose is the Managing Director at the Waverley Street Foundation, a start-up philanthropic effort that invests at the intersection of climate solutions and community priorities. Previously, she was vice president and Walter and Esther Hewlett Chair in Understanding California’s Future and a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Her career has focused on improving the lives of Californians by working in state government, private philanthropy, and research institutions. Her research interests include addressing issues of inequality through education and employment. She formerly served as senior policy advisor for higher education for the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Before joining the Newsom administration, she was executive director of California Competes, chaired the California Student Aid Commission, and served on the governance bodies of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the Institute for College Access and Success, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. She currently sits on the PPIC Higher Education Center Advisory Council and on the Board of Trustees at Occidental College. She holds a PhD in urban and regional studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michael Tubbs is the governor’s special advisor for economic mobility, the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, and the founder of End Poverty in California. In 2016, he was elected mayor of Stockton; he was the city’s first African American mayor and the youngest-ever mayor of a major US city. He piloted the first mayor-led guaranteed-income pilot in the country and also raised over $20 million dollars to create the Stockton Scholars, a universal scholarship and mentorship program for Stockton students. Under his leadership, Stockton saw a 40 percent drop in homicides, led California in the decline of officer-involved shootings, and was named the second most fiscally healthy city in California, as well as one of the most fiscally healthy cities in the nation. He is a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics and the MIT Media Lab, a member of Fortune’s Top 40 under 40 and Forbes 30 under 30 All Star Alumni, and was named “Most Valuable Mayor” by The Nation. He won a 2019 New Frontier Award from the JFK Library and the 2021 Civic Leadership Award winner from the King Center. Prior to his tenure as mayor, he served as a councilmember for the City of Stockton District 6, a high school educator, and a fellow for the Stanford Design School and the Emerson Collective. He earned a BA in comparative studies in race and ethnicity and an MA in policy, leadership, and organization studies from Stanford University.