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.

Toks Omishakin is secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). He previously served as director of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), where he managed a $15 billion budget and nearly 22,000 employees who oversee 50,000 lane miles of highway, maintain approximately 20,000 bridges, provide permitting of more than 400 public-use airports, fund three of Amtrak’s busiest intercity rail services and provide transit support to more than 200 local and regional transit agencies. He came to CalSTA and Caltrans after eight years with the Tennessee Department of Transportation as deputy commissioner for environment and planning. Prior to that role, he served as director of Healthy Living Initiatives in the Nashville mayor’s office. In that capacity, he led development of Nashville’s Complete Streets Policy and helped establish a more balanced approach to transportation planning and design. He is chair of the Council on Active Transportation for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), where he previously served as committee vice chair and inaugural chair of AASHTO’s Multimodal Task Force. He sits on the boards of America Walks, Veloz, Mineta Transportation Institute, and ITS World Congress, and has advised the US Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis through its Transportation Council Board. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology from Mississippi Valley State University, a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Jackson State University, and is completing a PhD in engineering management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Danny Wan is the executive director for the Port of Oakland. He is also president of the California Association of Port Authorities. He came to the Port of Oakland in the 1990s as external legal counsel to the port’s aviation division. In 2012, he became port attorney, advising the port board and staff on a broad range of issues in the conduct of the port’s maritime, aviation, and commercial real estate businesses. He was appointed to the executive director position in 2019. He has been a longtime public servant, community leader and policy maker. In the late 1980s he was a public-school teacher in Oakland and San Francisco. In 2000, he was appointed to the Oakland City Council to represent the Chinatown/Grand Lake district, and was elected to the position by voters two years later. From 2008 to 2012, he was city attorney and risk manager for the City of Morgan Hill. In 2017, Governor Jerry Brown appointed him to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, which promotes economic development and environmental stewardship of the Sierra Nevada region. He received a BA in rhetoric and an MA in education from the University of California, Berkeley, and a JD from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Acquanetta Warren is mayor of the City of Fontana. She focuses her administrations on bolstering economic development, creating educational opportunities, improving public safety, and advocating for a healthier community. During her eight years as a councilwoman and third term as mayor, she has spearheaded significant economic growth and infrastructure improvement initiatives, positioning Fontana as a supply chain hub that provides critical goods and services to businesses in the United States and throughout the world. In 2017 Fontana was ranked fourth in California in the five-year annual growth of retail sales. She has received numerous recognitions and several awards for her efforts on health education, including the Helen Putnam Award of Excellence in 2019 and 2008, the Health Champion Award for Southern California Elected Officials from the California Center for Public Health in 2017, and the California Health & Public Advocacy Health Champion Award in 2015. She serves on a number of boards and committees, including the advisory board with the US Conference of Mayors; the state treasurer’s Housing, Economic Development, Jobs, and Opportunity Zone Ad Hoc Committee; the Southern California Association of Governments Community, Economic, and Human Development Committee; and the League of California Cities Public Safety Task Force. She was appointed to the Fontana City Council for three terms, beginning in 2002. Previously she served as co-chairperson of the City of Fontana General Plan Advisory Committee and chairperson of the Citizen Village of Heritage Development Landscape Committee. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science/urban studies from Occidental College and an honorary doctorate degree in theology from Next Dimension Bible College.