Advocacy is not just about lobbying the Legislature or Governor's Office. Advocates should pay attention to the less known but highly impactful "rulemaking process". California agencies adopt, amend, and repeal regulations in order to "implement" the laws adopted by the Legislature. For small business owners, these regulations can have a huge impact on everyday operations. In today's episode, I talk with Jaime Schrabeck, veteran beauty industry advocate and owner of Precision Nails. For th...

There is so much knowledge in my interview with Ludovic Blain I don't know where to start! Mr. Blain is the Executive Director of California Donor Table, a statewide community of donors who pool their funds to make investments in communities of color so they have the power and resources they need to elect people who represent their values and needs and help govern and hold decision-makers accountable. He helmed CDT's work, starting in 2010, with community organizations in Orange and ...

There are few lawmakers I admire more than California Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-47). The first Latina to hold this leadership position, Leader Reyes is an unequivocal champion for working families in her district and throughout the state. Her emphatic advice for advocates: remember your true power. You are the ones who send representatives to Sacramento to give voice to the community. You can also hold them to account if they lose their way. I am grateful to the ...

As any good lobbyist in Sacramento will tell you, at the end the day what matters is getting the 21/41 votes you need to move your bill. This has always been a significant challenge; in our era of toxic political polarization it's can be near impossible. That's why I'm excited to share my recent conversation with Assemblymember Chad Mayes (I - 42). A former Minority Leader of the Assembly Republican Caucus and now the only Independent in the Legislature, he knows first hand the impact of h...

Today, I talk with Amy Everitt, President of Golden State Opportunity, a nonprofit that strives to end poverty and improve the lives of low-income workers in California. Ms. Everitt shares with me the top 4 lessons she's learned in her more than two decades of advocacy, both in California and federally. We also talk about the challenges facing the anti-poverty movement as California heads into another year of historic budget surplus and GSO's long term goal to support low-income communitie...