Civic and Business Leader, Former California State Treasurer

A former California State treasurer with nearly two decades of experience as a senior bank executive, Kathleen Brown concentrates on business counseling, government and regulatory affairs in connection with the healthcare, energy, real estate and financial services industries.

Prior to joining Manatt, Kathleen served in senior executive positions at Goldman Sachs Inc. and Bank of America. At Goldman Sachs, where her roles included chairman of Midwest investment banking and head of the Western region public sector and infrastructure group, Kathleen participated in over $4.2 billion of water and power bond financings and counseled municipal utilities in California in their efforts to meet the state’s renewable energy standards. She also helped healthcare institutions navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by healthcare reform.

A former Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee, Kathleen has extensive experience in the public sector. As California State treasurer, she managed a $25 billion bond portfolio, oversaw a $32 billion cash management fund and served as a trustee on the boards of CalPERS and CalSTRS, two of the largest pension funds in the nation.

Kathleen served as co-chair of the Council of Institutional Investors; co-chair of the Presidential Commission on Capital Budgeting; a commissioner of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works; and a two-term member of the Los Angeles Board of Education.

Prior to her campaign for treasurer, Kathleen was an attorney at a global law firm, where she was a member of the capital markets group working in public and corporate finance.

Retired United States Ambassador and former Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs at Southern California Edison

Ambassador Gaddi H. Vasquez is the former senior vice president of Government Affairs for Southern California Edison (SCE), one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, and its parent company, Edison International. During his tenure, he was responsible for government relations activities at the Federal and State level, as well as Local Public Affairs. He is the descendant of a migrant working family and was the first in his family to earn a college degree. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in public service management from the University of Redlands and has been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees.

Ambassador Vasquez has enjoyed a stellar career in public service beginning 2006 as U.S. Ambassador and permanent representative to United Nations Agencies based in Rome, Italy. In 2002, Ambassador Vasquez was unanimously confirmed as Director of the United States Peace Corps where he led the international volunteer service organization with volunteers and staff serving in 78 countries. In 1988, he was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors and served two terms as chairman of the board.

Ambassador Vasquez has been a leader in promoting health, safety, and educational opportunities for children and youth in underserved communities both at home and abroad. He was awarded the Globe and Anchor Award by the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund and is the recipient of the Tree of Life Award by the Jewish National Fund. He was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States by Hispanic Business Magazine; awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2014); received the Bill of Rights Award by the Constitutional Rights Foundation (2016); awarded the Salvation Army’s William Booth Award for Service; and named as a champion against world hunger by the Director of the UN World Food Program. He has served on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and has been appointed by three California Governors to state boards and commissions.

Ambassador Vasquez currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Policy Institute of California, the Pat Brown Institute, Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, the National Advisory Board for the Salvation Army, the Chapman University Board of Trustees, and Granite Construction Company, as well as serving as a member of the Board of Governors of the California State University Foundation.

Founder in Residence at PolicyLink

Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder in Residence, started PolicyLink in 1999. Under Angela’s leadership, PolicyLink gained national prominence in the movement to use public policy to improve access and opportunity for all low-income people and communities of color, particularly in the areas of health, housing, transportation, and infrastructure.

Prior to founding PolicyLink, Angela served as Senior VP at the Rockefeller Foundation. A lawyer by training, she gained national recognition as founder of the Urban Strategies Council. From 1977 to 1987, Angela was a partner at Public Advocates. Angela is the co-author of Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America’s Future, and she authored The Curb Cut Effect, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review in 2017.

As a leading voice in the movement for equity in America, Angela serves on numerous boards, and she advised the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve as one of 15 members of its inaugural Community Advisory Council. She is the 2018 recipient of the John W. Gardner Leadership Award, presented by the Independent Sector, and in 2017, she received the Peter E. Haas Public Service Award from the University of California, Berkeley.