Former Fellows

Jeff Blattner is the former Judiciary Committee Chief Counsel for Sen. Edward Kennedy and the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mike Bonin is a former Los Angeles City Councilmember from 2013 to 2022.

Jane Coaston is a journalist, CNN contributor, and the lead host of Crooked Media’s daily news show “What A Day.”

Lea Endres is the Co-founder and CEO of NationBuilder, the world’s most used software for politics and advocacy.

Carissa Smith is the former Senior Public Engagement Advisor in the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University.

Ron Galperin is the former Controller and Chief Financial Officer for the City of Los Angeles.

Tim Miller is a political consultant and served as the Jeb Bush 2016 Presidential Campaign Director.

Michael Tubbs is the Special Advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom (CA) on Economic Mobility and Opportunity and the former Mayor of the City of Stockton.

Shannon Watts is the Founder Emerita of Moms Demand Action.

Addisu Demissie is a Founding Principal of California-based political consulting firm 50+1 Strategies, with two decades of experience in advocacy and campaign strategy.

Arnon Mishkin is a political analyst and Director of the Fox News Election Decision Team, which is responsible for analyzing election and polling results and developing models to project election outcomes.

Reince Priebus served as the former White House Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Mike Schmuhl is Chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Executive Committee, and served as the Campaign Manager for Pete Buttigieg 2020.

Betty Yee served as the California State Controller for two terms (elected in 2014 and 2018), following two terms of service on the California Board of Equalization. Betty is only the tenth woman in California history to be elected to statewide office.

Michael D. Bishop is a former United States Congressman and the Founder and President of American General Counsel PLC.

Bill Carrick is a strategic and media consultant for candidates and ballot initiatives in California and nationally.

Martha M. Escutia is a retired State Senator and currently serves as Vice President for State Government Relations and Special Counsel at USC.

John McConnell served more than ten years on the White House staff as a senior speechwriter for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Hank Plante is an Emmy and Peabody Award-Winning American television reporter and newspaper columnist.

Ira Reiner is the former District Attorney for Los Angeles County, having served as the 39th District Attorney of Los Angeles from 1984-1992.

Stephanie L. Young serves as the Executive Director of When We All Vote, a non-partisan voting initiative launched by Michelle Obama in 2018.

Elan Carr is a politician who served as the former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism from 2019 to 2021.

Jessica Lall is the Managing Director of CBRE’s Downtown Los Angeles office.

Noelia Rodriguez is a political communications veteran who is currently the chief of staff at Metrolink, southern California’s regional rail system.

Maria S. Salinas is the President and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the largest business association in Los Angeles County.

Ralph G. Neas is a renowned civil rights attorney and the former Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Todd S. Purdum is a renowned political journalist who has worked at The New York Times and The Atlantic.

Amy Turk, LCSW, is a social worker and Chief Executive Officer of the Downtown Women’s Center (DWC).

1948 – 2023

Gloria Molina was the first Chicana elected to the California State Assembly and the first Latina to join the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Nichol Whiteman is the Chief Executive Officer of the award-winning Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF).

Barbara Comstock is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented Virginia’s 10th congressional district.

Shaniqua McClendon is currently the Vice President of Politics at Crooked Media

Barbara Boxer is a former U.S. Senator, Congresswoman, and County Supervisor who served the state of California for decades in Congress.

John Chiang previously served as California’s State Treasurer from 2015 until 2019 and as California’s State Controller from 2007 until 2014.

Former Congresswoman Mimi Walters served in the House of Representatives, as well as the California State Assembly and State Senate.

Jeff Greenfield is an award-winning journalist and analyst who has reported in some of the nation’s most coveted newsrooms, including CBS, ABC, and CNN.

David Hill is a pollster and strategist that has served Republican candidates across the nation and polled for more than 100 successful ballot measures.

Ben Rhodes, Co-Host of “Pod Save The World,” served as the Deputy National Security Advisor in the Obama Administration.

Ron Christie is a political analyst for the BBC and CEO of Christie Strategies. Previously, he served as the special assistant to President George W. Bush.

Ann Klenk has produced history in the nation’s most prestigious newsrooms, with her most notable role marked by her 17-year career with MSNBC.

Adam Nagourney has been the Los Angeles bureau chief of The New York Times since 2010.

Patrick Griffin is a storied strategic communications expert who has consulted on numerous U.S. presidential campaigns.

Mike Madrid is Principal at Grassroots Lab, a premier campaign management and lobbying firm located California.

Symone D. Sanders-Townsend is a strategist, author, and co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend.

Doug Schoen has been one of the most influential Democratic campaign consultants for over forty years.

Gentry Collins is a partner at CAP Public Affairs and the formerly served as National Political Director for the RNC.

Dan Schwerin is a veteran of high-profile speechwriting, bookwriting, and press ops.