Letter from the CEO
Dear Bay Area Council Members,
As we look back at 2025, I’m struck by how much the business community can accomplish when we move with shared purpose.
Last year, we sponsored and passed the most significant CEQA reforms in history to support housing and advanced manufacturing, we helped thousands of homeless people get off the street into shelter with our interim housing work, we brought the force multiplier of technology into public safety, we shaped the statewide conversation on artificial intelligence and workforce readiness, we strengthened California’s global economic partnerships from Africa to Asia, and we laid the groundwork for sustainable funding to ensure our public transit systems endure while inserting strong requirements for improving operational efficiency and strengthening accountability. At the same time, our research and advocacy, from immigration and healthcare to energy and water resilience, continued to inform policy and drive real-world impact.
What you’ll see in this report reflects collaboration at its best. The challenges we face are complex, but the progress we made this year shows what is possible when our members contribute their expertise, influence, and commitment. Thank you to all our members and partners for continuing to pave the way forward for our region, and a special thank you to Chair Kristina Lawson for her steadfast leadership and support over the past three years.
Looking ahead, while we have much to celebrate, we remain clear-eyed about the challenges our region faces, and we are focused on delivering practical solutions that meet the scale of the problems. We have the world’s greatest business community, and we are honored by the trust you place in the Bay Area Council to lead this work.
Sincerely,
John Grubb
Interim President and CEO
Bay Area Council
2025 By the Numbers
70
New Members
150+
Government Officials hosted by BAC
10
Sponsored Bills
7
Sponsored Bills Passed
(Transportation, Public Safety, Housing, Homelessness, Energy, Water & Climate Resilience)
118
Networking Opportunities
11
Economic Institute Reports Released
(434 Pages)
8
Delegation Trips
82
Policy Committee Meetings
300+
Foreign Dignitaries hosted by BAC
310+
Media Appearances
70
New Members
150
Government Officials hosted by BAC
10
Sponsored Bills
7
Sponsored Bills Passed
(Transportation, Public Safety, Housing, Homelessness, Energy, Water & Climate Resilience)
118
Networking Opportunities
11
Economic Institute Reports Released
(434 Pages)
8
Delegation Trips
82
Policy Committee Meetings
300+
Foreign Dignitaries hosted by BAC
310+
Media Appearances
70
New Members
150+
Government Officials hosted by BAC
10
Sponsored Bills
7
Sponsored Bills Passed
(Transportation, Public Safety, Housing, Homelessness, Energy, Water & Climate Resilience)
118
Networking Opportunities
11
Economic Institute Reports Released
(434 Pages)
8
Delegation Trips
82
Policy Committee Meetings
300+
Foreign Dignitaries hosted by BAC
310+
Media Appearances
Big Wins
Secured Biggest CEQA Reform in History
Positioned Public Transit to Endure and Thrive
SB 63 Regional Transit Measure passed, authorizing a 2026 Bay Area transit funding measure with mandated third-party efficiency reviews, shaping the region’s transportation future.
Expanded Bay Area Global Connections to Africa
Led the California Africa Climate and Economic Delegation, resulting in two signed MOUs on climate, green energy, and economic development.
Passed Four Major Public Safety Bills
Addressed police recruitment, retail theft, copper/metal theft, and transit employee safety, improving community safety across the region.
Launched AI For All San José and Workforce of the Future Committee
Built regional capacity for AI literacy and workforce readiness in partnership with leading tech and government partners.
Policy Highlights
Business Climate & Government Relations
As the federal government doubles down on its commitments to onshore manufacturing, California remains largely an afterthought for any company seeking to locate a new manufacturing facility or expand an existing one. This is in large part due to our overly burdensome regulatory regime and the very high cost of doing business here. These challenges are not unique to manufacturing and are faced by employers across our state. Under the direction of the Executive Committee, the newly constituted Government Relations Committee is making the state’s Business Climate a top issue, and we have already seen some success. Key highlights from 2025:
Played a critical role in securing landmark CEQA reform that makes it significantly easier to build new housing, advanced manufacturing facilities, clean energy projects, and other vital infrastructure. The ink was not dry on the legislation when an effort surfaced in the Legislature to severely limit the scope of this CEQA exemption. The Council is leading the effort to preserve it.
Led an effort to build a statewide coalition to get behind the broad Affordability Agenda. In California, all the major bills we pay (housing, energy, transportation) are orders of magnitude higher than in the rest of the country and this is in large part due to a wide array of regulatory agencies at all levels of government continuing to ratchet up standards without ever stopping to ask “how much will it cost, and who will pay?”
Committee Chairs:
- Ramona Prieto, Uber
- Nick Johnson, Lyft
- Allison Rose, Autodesk
- Ariane Hogan, Genentech
- Papia Gambelin, United Airlines
- Sally Kay, Amazon
Tech & Innovation
The Bay Area Council has historically engaged in discrete legislation and regulation impacting the innovation economy in our region. To strengthen our region’s overall technology ecosystem, the Council launched the Technology + Innovation Committee, which will advocate for the testing, development, and deployment of cutting-edge technologies and their attendant infrastructure, both within private industry and government agencies. The Committee will direct state and federal tech policy advocacy by helping educate policymakers on technology issues, leading coalitions with allied organizations, serving as a media resource, and crafting thought-leadership through targeted research. Key highlights from 2025:
Launched the Data Center Task Force to serve as a thought leader and advocate for a policy ecosystem that allows for the expedient and efficient development, construction, and operation of diverse types of data centers in California.
Delivered policy recommendations to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to inform federal regulatory reform on artificial intelligence.
Committee Chairs:
- Lauren Kimzey, PayPal
- Javier González, Google
- Mitra Rogers, AWS
Public Safety
Three years ago, Bay Area Council members called for the creation of a public safety policy area in response to significant safety concerns and rising property and violent crime during and after the pandemic. The message was clear: safer transit, stronger enforcement tools, a robust public safety workforce, and strategic use of technology are necessary for the region’s recovery. The Council’s Public Safety Committee quickly cemented itself as a key player by passing key local and state ballot measures, advancing transit safety, expanding technology deployment, achieving major legislative wins, and engaging with all the region’s 100+ policing agencies. We’re seeing results, with violent and other crime down significantly in many cities and on the BART system. Key highlights from 2025:
Passed four major public safety bills: AB 992 (Irwin) to remove barriers to police hiring and recruitment; SB 276 (Wiener) to curb the resale of stolen goods in San Francisco; AB 476 (Gonzalez) to strengthen penalties for copper and metal theft from public infrastructure; and AB 394 (Wilson) to expand safety protections to all transit employees.
Helped accelerate the installation of BART’s next-generation fare gates across all 50 stations, delivering systemwide safety upgrades ahead of schedule.
Released landmark report, “Making Oakland Safe and Its Economy Strong: A Vision for Lasting Change,” and leveraged the report’s recommendations to align city leaders, law enforcement, and industry around a shared set of actionable public safety priorities.
Launched the next frontier of our safety technology efforts – and set the stage for an even deeper focus in 2026 – by providing members with exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to real-time safety operations and innovation labs, and by continuing to aid with the expanded deployment of private and public-private camera networks throughout the region.
Committee Chairs:
- Jeff Littlefield, San Francisco International Airport
- Kristi McKenney, Port of Oakland
- Denise Pinkston, TMG Partners
- Greg Suhr, Salesforce Tower
- Tina D’Agostin, Alcatraz AI
Housing
For decades, members of the Bay Area Council have ranked housing as one of their top priorities, and for decades, the Council’s Housing Committee has been delivering legislative wins to help end the housing crisis. Our leadership on easing costs and barriers to accessory dwelling units has spurred a statewide avalanche of ADU construction that has outpaced any other form of housing. In 2025, the Council cosponsored legislation that, together, amounted to the most consequential changes to California housing law ever made. Key highlights from 2025:
Reformed the California Environmental Quality Act by exempting infill housing from CEQA. Our work on CEQA also led to the creation of a first-ever CEQA exemption for advanced manufacturing, making it easier for the Bay Area’s innovators to build the future here, not just design it here.
Rolled back local government restrictions on home construction near the state’s highest quality public transportation systems.
Prevented the sunsetting of the California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act, which Council members use to deliver affordable housing faster.
Fought for and won the approval of thousands of homes by advocating at city council meetings across the region and working with our Project Endorsement Subcommittee.
Committee Chairs:
- Ann Silverberg, Related California
- Andy Ball, oWow
- Robin Baral, Hanson Bridgett LLP
Homelessness
Three years ago, our Executive Committee launched a bold initiative to help get homeless people out of tents, off the region’s sidewalks, and into shelter and services. The Council’s Homelessness Committee leapt into action and identified two critical barriers standing in the way: the shortage of shelter space (the region had just 40 beds for every 100 unsheltered individuals) and the absence of sober spaces for homeless individuals struggling with addiction. We passed legislation making it much easier to build interim housing, pressured state leaders to allow homeless programs to fund drug-free recovery housing and showed up to support similar local reforms and actual projects. Today, cities like San José, San Francisco, Sacramento, and others are investing heavily in interim and drug-free solutions, bringing encampment populations down for the first time in years. Key highlights from 2025:
Passed AB 255 (Haney)—legislation the Council co-sponsored that amends California’s Housing First law to enable state programs to support drug–free sober housing. Awaiting Governor Newsom’s signature.
Sponsored SB 16 (Blakespear) – Elevated ending unsheltered homelessness as the state’s top homelessness priority.
Helped pass San José enforcement legislation authorizing officers to enforce anti-camping ordinances against individuals with multiple violations.
Committee Chair:
- Elizabeth Funk, DignityMoves
Transportation
Across generations, the Bay Area Council may be the most important and influential group for advancing a world-class regional transportation system. We created BART and the regional ferry system, ushered in the electrification of Caltrain, and helped secure hundreds of billions of dollars to improve and expand our highways, roads, bridges, and transit systems. With our transit systems still struggling to recover from the pandemic and shift to remote work, the Council’s Transportation Committee acted to protect those multigenerational investments with a measure that will provide life-support funding and drive significant efficiency improvements to get transit back on its feet and thriving. Key highlights from 2025:
Shaped and helped pass SB 63, authorizing a regional transit measure on the November 2026 ballot. The legislation includes the Bay Area Council proposal that requires transit operators to undergo a third-party financial efficiency review to identify areas to reduce costs without compromising service. The Bay Area Council launched the Connect Bay Area campaign to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Council-sponsored bill SB 71 was signed into law and will expedite the delivery of sustainable transportation projects, including a new CEQA exemption of public ferry terminals.
Successfully advocated for the restoration of the Muni 30x Marina and 1x California Express bus services to connect commuters to jobs in Downtown San Francisco.
Committee Chairs:
- Shalonda Baldwin, WSP
- Arielle Fleisher, Waymo
- Rich Robbins, Wareham Development
Global Business & Investment
For more than a decade, the Bay Area Council has fostered mutually beneficial relationships between California and China and provided opportunities and insights into the second largest consumer market in the world. Two years ago, the Council expanded its scope of international efforts by establishing the Global Business and Investment (GBI) Committee. In 2025, the GBI team explored new cooperation opportunities in Africa and Southeast Asia, while continuing to promote the Bay Area as a global hub for innovation and economic growth. Key highlights from 2025:
Partnered with Gov. Newsom’s Administration to establish and strengthen ties with Kenya and Nigeria, including helping lead the California Africa Climate and Economic Delegation in August 2025 that met with Kenyan President Ruto and high-level government officials in Nigeria. The trip led to two MOUs between California, Kenya, and Nigeria to collaborate on climate, green energy, and economic growth. The California Africa Climate and Economic Partnership was successfully established between the Council and UC Davis.
Released the Innovation, Adoption, and the Governance of Artificial Intelligence: A Silicon Valley Perspective report at the Silicon Valley Meets APEC 2025 forum in South Korea. The report builds on the insights from the AI speaker series that the Council hosted throughout the year. During the APEC CEO Summit, Council Vice President for Global Programs Alex Foard met with Vietnamese President Lương Cường to discuss expanding economic and technological partnerships between Silicon Valley and Vietnam.
Continued advancing California–China cooperation at the 2025 China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, helping connect Bay Area businesses with fast-growing markets and partners across the Pacific.
Committee Chairs:
- Harshul Asnani, Tech Mahindra Americas
- Florence Fang, Florence Fang Family Foundation
- Dean Fealk, DLA Piper
- Travis Kiyota, East West Bank
- Kevin Xu, MEBO International
Waterfront
Inspired by our international missions to Vancouver and Sydney, the Bay Area Council launched the Waterfront Initiative to promote waterfront activation and shoreline resilience on the Bay shoreline. By activating our waterfront with new housing, jobs, and transportation, we can build vibrant and beautiful new centers for community and innovation while embracing climate resilience and preparing the region to weather the storms ahead. This year, the Bay Area Council made real progress toward these goals, addressing regulatory challenges to new development and climate adaptation projects on the shoreline and promoting new funding streams for shoreline resilience. Key highlights from 2025:
Convened members with key leaders shaping the future of the waterfront, from our new San Francisco Supervisor Danny Sauter to Port of Oakland Executive Director Kristi McKenney to OneShoreline Executive Director Len Materman.
Laid the groundwork and secured funding commitments for a new initiative, Strong Shoreline, to champion the Bay’s flood protection and shoreline adaptation needs and to study the climate resilience benefits of waterfront activation.
Committee Chairs:
- Enrique Landa, Fifth Space
- Seamus Murphy, SF Bay Ferry
- Geeti Silwal, Perkins&Will
Energy & Climate Mitigation
As California pursues economy-wide decarbonization while confronting new, accelerating electricity demand, the Bay Area Council has focused on policies that enable rapid deployment of clean energy and reduce carbon emissions without undermining reliability or affordability. Through its Climate Mitigation and Energy Committees, the Council identified ways to advance targeted permitting reforms, defended policy tools critical to project delivery, and convened business, technology, and government leaders to carve new pathways for meeting the state’s 2045 climate objectives. Key highlights from 2025:
Helped pass SB 131 to streamline approval of advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and other critical infrastructure. Led by new committee Co-Chairs Nathan Fleischer of Apple and Regina Donaldson of Bayer, the Climate Mitigation Committee built a statewide coalition that successfully defended a late-session push by activists to remove SB 131’s CEQA exemption for advanced manufacturing.
Showcased Carbon Capture Innovation. Toured Project Enterprise at the Los Medanos Energy Center, a first-of-its-kind carbon capture demonstration pilot that tests advanced technology optimized to support a cleaner electricity grid.
Began push to save the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and expand California’s electric supply. Led a high-level delegation of industry, government, and technology leaders to Diablo Canyon Power Plant and Chicago to learn how smart policy, strategic investment, and breakthrough innovation can address surging energy demands while advancing climate goals and strengthening our economy.
Energy Committee Chairs:
- Alex Makler, West Region, Calpine
- Carla Peterman, PG&E
- Dominic Aliano, Martinez Refining Company
Climate Mitigation Committee Chairs:
- Regina Donaldson, Bayer
- Nathan Fleisher, Apple
Water & Climate Resilience
Abundant rain and snow (for now) have given California breathing room to expand its water supply to meet growing urban and environmental demands amidst a steadily declining Sierra Snowpack. The Council’s Water & Climate Resilience Committee is dedicated to bringing more state and federal dollars to water infrastructure to expand supply while minimizing ratepayer impacts; advocating for large regional priority projects like Sites Reservoir to secure necessary permitting; pushing back on short-sighted regulatory proposals that undermine regional drought-resilience; and rebuilding California’s wood-products economy as a market-based solution for wildfire prevention. Key highlights from 2025:
Secured timely appropriation of Proposition 4 funds, which prevented a major delay in implementation of the climate bond.
Defeated SB 601 (Allen), preventing duplicative expansion of Porter-Cologne regulations that would increase the cost of developing housing and other projects.
Passed SB 72 (Caballero), which required the State Water Plan to include water-supply production targets to meet statewide housing and other needs.
Secured $200m for wildfire prevention and forestry management in the extended Cap-and-Invest plan.
Committee Chair:
- Sal Coniglio, CEO, Recology
Workforce of the Future
The success of the Bay Area’s economy is in lockstep with the health of our workforce and the alignment of our talent pipelines to our region’s talent needs. In 2025, the Bay Area Council re-launched our Workforce of the Future Committee, convening business, educators, skills trainers, and policy makers to focus on three core pillars impacting the health of our region’s workforce (AI and the Future of Work, Education to Employment Pathways, and Alternative Workforce & Labor Solutions – beyond the 4-year degree). Our working groups are rolling up their sleeves in the new year, with impactful leaders at the helm of each of our initiatives. Key highlights from 2025:
Workforce of the Future Committee re-launched. Fueled by the resounding interest of our members, the Bay Area Council’s Workforce of the Future Committee officially re-launched in October. New co-chairs were announced, along with key priority areas. At the kickoff, the group heard presentations from OpenAI, LinkedIn, and insights from leaders representing Pearson, UCSF, Jacobs Engineering, Google, Year Up, and the City of San José’s team and others. The committee meeting was one of ten+ Workforce events throughout the year, a strong starting place with meaningful growth plans for 2026. Working groups will kick off in January, with the second full committee meeting in late February 2026.
AI For All – San José is live. AI For All is an AI Literacy Initiative led by the Bay Area Council, in partnership with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, and local governments. The initiative was first announced by Mayor Mahan in San José at the GovAI Summit in October and has seen tremendous uptake since. The program goal is to offer free AI Literacy training for all residents of the Bay Area, starting in San José, making our region the most AI-literate workforce and population globally.
BAC announces official partnership with the LAUNCH Apprenticeship Network. LAUNCH, as the leading apprenticeship intermediary in CA, announced a multi-year partnership with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to expand its impact and success in SoCal and the Inland Empire into the Bay Area. LAUNCH has tapped the Bay Area Council, as part of our role in leading the Northern California Apprentice Network (NCAN), to lead employer engagement for this effort. Stay tuned for an exciting event with state leaders during National Apprenticeship week in late April.
Committee Chairs:
- Erika Webb-Hughes, Pearson
- Matti Zazueta, OpenAI
- Angelo Farooq, AlphaX RE Capital
- Philip Minardi, BuildWithin
- Javier González, Google
Healthcare
Drastic cuts to Medicaid threaten not only the individuals who rely on this safety net program, but the health systems that provide care. Meanwhile, the mental health crisis so often playing out on California’s streets will continue to require aggressive action to address. This year, the Bay Area Council brought together the brightest minds from across the region and beyond to address some of our most fundamental shortcomings. Key highlights from 2025:
Hosted a first-of-its-kind regional convening focused on ensuring the successful implementation of Proposition 1 with the California Health Care Foundation. The convening featured behavioral health leads from six of the nine Bay Area counties, major providers including Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, and Stanford Health, along with regional housing, homelessness, and behavioral health experts from a diverse set of interests.
Repeatedly advocated for the future of Medi-Cal at both the federal and state levels, ensuring policymakers understood the full extent of Medicaid’s impact not just for the individuals it serves, but for California’s delivery system as a whole.
Developed a cross-country relationship with a diverse set of healthcare leaders focused on responsibly implementing artificial intelligence so our healthcare systems can deliver better outcomes with lower cost for all, particularly under-served rural and urban communities.
Committee Chairs:
- William M. Isenberg, MD, PhD, Sutter Health
- Mike Bowers, Kaiser Permanente
- Kara Carter, California Health Care Foundation
Research
Welcome to our 2025 New Members
Abundance Network
AJW, Inc.
Alameda County Water District
Alcatraz AI
AlphaX RE Capital
Alstom
Amtrak
ASF Electric, Inc.
Atlantic Aviation
BANANAS, Inc.
Banc of California
Bank of San Francisco
Bay FC
Black & Veatch
BMO
Build Group
BuildWithin
Cahill Contractors LLC
Cal Poly Maritime Academy
Clear Channel Outdoor
Conduent
CoreSite
CrossCountry Consulting
Decker Electric Co., Inc.
Deveau Burr Group, LLC
E-lixr
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Fehr & Peers
Flock Safety
Flynn Group
Grant Thornton LLP
Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley
Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco
Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company
HealthRIGHT 360
Hospital Council of Northern & Central California
IDA Ireland
Instacart
Intuit
Invest Northern Ireland
Jawnt
Kearns & West
Langtrace
Miller Kaplan
Mission Housing Development Corporation
Molly Duggan Associates
NAMC Northern California
Netflix
Oakland Roots and Soul SC
OpenAI
Orchard Partners
oWow
Perkins Coie LLP
Phillips 66
Prado Group
Royal Auto Group of San Francisco
San Jose Clean Energy
Santa Clara County Medical Association
SCS Global Services
Singular Builders
Skanska USA Building
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District
Southwest Airlines
Steinberg Hart
Swinerton
TEXEL Energy
The Martin Group
The True Life Companies
Tishman Speyer
WorkWhile
Abundance Network
AJW, Inc.
Alameda County Water District
Alcatraz AI
AlphaX RE Capital
Alstom
Amtrak
ASF Electric, Inc.
Atlantic Aviation
BANANAS, Inc.
Banc of California
Bank of San Francisco
Bay FC
Black & Veatch
BMO
Build Group
BuildWithin
Cahill Contractors LLC
Cal Poly Maritime Academy
Clear Channel Outdoor
Conduent
CoreSite
CrossCountry Consulting
Decker Electric Co., Inc.
Deveau Burr Group, LLC
E-lixr
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Fehr & Peers
Flock Safety
Flynn Group
Grant Thornton LLP
Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley
Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco
Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company
HealthRIGHT 360
Hospital Council of Northern & Central California
IDA Ireland
Instacart
Intuit
Invest Northern Ireland
Jawnt
Kearns & West
Langtrace
Miller Kaplan
Mission Housing Development Corporation
Molly Duggan Associates
NAMC Northern California
Netflix
Oakland Roots and Soul SC
OpenAI
Orchard Partners
oWow
Perkins Coie LLP
Phillips 66
Prado Group
Royal Auto Group of San Francisco
San Jose Clean Energy
Santa Clara County Medical Association
SCS Global Services
Singular Builders
Skanska USA Building
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District
Southwest Airlines
Steinberg Hart
Swinerton
TEXEL Energy
The Martin Group
The True Life Companies
Tishman Speyer
WorkWhile
Maximize Your Membership—Book a Call with Our Team!
Coming up in 2026
- 2026 Policy Agenda Briefing – January 21
- 80th Annual Dinner and Business Hall of Fame Awards – January 28
- Full Calendar of Events