MIKE BONIN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mike Bonin became executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs in May 2025, outlining a vision of activating democracy by provoking thoughtful examinations of issues, developing public leadership, and inspiring a more dynamic level of civic engagement. A former public official, he is a teacher, writer, activist and local leader with 25+ years experience in government, politics and public service.
As a member of the Los Angeles City Council and LA Metro Board of Directors from 2013-2022, Mike earned a reputation for taking principled stands and pushing forward-thinking solutions. He led on the issues of homelessness and affordable housing, tenant issues, transportation and mobility, reimagining public safety, and local responses to climate change. Mike’s key accomplishments include: raising the citywide minimum wage; crafting historic renter protections during the pandemic; initiating the city’s transition to 100% clean energy; providing free public transit to K-12 and community college students; creating the popular public safety ambassadors program on LA Metro; jump-starting modernization of Los Angeles International Airport; and passing campaign finance reform legislation that leveled the field for grassroots candidates. On homelessness in particular, he earned a reputation for standing up for what’s right, regardless of the political consequences. He created more than 1,000 units of homeless housing, despite fierce opposition; led to efforts to oppose legislation criminalizing homelessness; and modeled a services-led approach to the homelessness crisis with the city’s largest and most successful “encampments to homes” homeless housing initiative.
After leaving office, Mike became a Leadership in Government Fellow with the Open Society Foundations. He taught public policy at Occidental College and Loyola Marymount University, and served as a fellow at the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, leading a seminar on Los Angeles politics. He also served as a Senior Fellow with LA Forward Institute, an organization promoting civic engagement and education, and worked as a senior advisor to Local Progress, a national network of locally elected officials, and Community Coalition, a multiracial community organization in South Los Angeles. Before he was an elected official, Mike worked for a variety of elected officials and campaigns, including as a field organizer for Obama for Americana in 2008. In 2009, after voters outlawed gay marriage in California, he co-founded and led Camp Courage, an acclaimed program training new activists to become organizers for marriage equality.
In his spare time, Mike hosts a podcast, What’s Next Los Angeles, focusing on politics and public policy, co-hosts the popular LA Podcast, writes about economic, racial and social justice, and is a frequent commentator on public affairs. Mike is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, who openly shares about his struggles with substance abuse, housing instability, and depression. He mentors young people seeking to engage in public service or community organizing. He lives in Mar Vista with his husband and young son.