Dr. Micah Weinberg is a nonresident scholar at Carnegie California writing on the global relevance of the quality of democracy and public policy in this important subnational polity. In this role, he is managing a partnership with the California Office of Data and Innovation on the implementation of a novel tool for technology-enabled deliberative democratic engagement. He is also a Senior Strategic Advisor to the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley assisting its leadership in advancing their Democracy Policy Initiative.
Most recently he was CEO of California Forward, quintupling its staff and revenue while having a tremendous impact on public policy in this state. This includes central roles in the creation of the $600 million California Jobs First program, a new international model for equitable economic development, the $500 million California Dream for All program, focusing on expanding homeownership, as well as multi-billion-dollar investments in broadband access and wildfire mitigation. Employing and supporting former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the behest of the Newsom administration, he was also instrumental in the passage of generationally significant reforms to speed the construction of green infrastructure. Previously, he was the president of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, where he became a global expert on the development of innovation economies. And he had a significant impact on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in California during his time as a Senior Fellow in the health policy program at the New America think tank.
He has been published in outlets that range from the New York Times and Policy Studies Journal and has appeared on Fox News and NPR. He is a sought-after analyst, speaker, and source on a broad range of economic and policy issues affecting the Bay Area and California. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with honors from Princeton with a degree in politics. He lives in Oakland, California.
We are in an era in which states seek to demonstrate their power and values through the construction of new cities. This new wave of development is global: in Egypt with the New Administrative Capital, in Indonesia with Nusantara, in Kenya with Konza Techno City and Tatu City, and in California’s Solano County.
A new series of articles will offer a deep evaluation of the state of democracy in California and contrast it with countries around the world.
