Increasing the Dynamism, Resilience and Inclusiveness of California’s Communities with Micah Weinberg, CEO at California Forward

This episode features a conversation between Phil Dillard, Founder of Thruline Networks, and  Dr. Micah Weinberg, CEO at California Forward, a cross-sector civic leadership group committed to producing prosperity for all Californians in all of the state's regions and to improving government performance and accountability.

Dr. Weinberg’s current role focuses on increasing the dynamism, resilience and inclusiveness of communities in California and throughout the nation and world. This requires all people to have access to the building blocks of the California Dream including economic growth, health and well-being, affordable transportation, housing and lifelong education, and a healthy environment. Prior to joining California Forward, Dr. Weinberg was President of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and a Senior Research Fellow at New America. His writing has appeared in diverse outlets from the New York Times to Policy Studies Journal, and he has appeared on Fox News and NPR.

In this episode, Dr. Weinberg talks about navigating regional challenges in order to drive change across different sectors, the importance of tackling local issues with scalable solutions, and how to actively engage today’s youth in the future of California.

—

Guest Quote

“We'll say free market capitalism as if those things go together when in fact, basically what capital is used for is to distort the market in your favor when you acquire it, right? So we have to think very carefully about, are these markets in fact free? Is the market even the right framework we're thinking about? But people getting to do whatever they want with no  regulations whatsoever is not even a market. You actually need a lot of interventions to prevent asymmetries of information and all these other kinds of aspects.” - Dr. Micah Weinberg

Episode Timestamps

(02:02) Dr. Weinberg’s role

(02:51) Navigating regional challenges

(05:17) Dr. Weinberg’s career path

(13:21) Driving change across different sectors

(14:30) The Economic Resilience Fund

(22:24) Philanthropy, private investment and government grants

(28:30) Engaging the youth in the future of their state

(36:36) Finding balance in the market

(41:38) Tackling local solutions and driving scalability

(44:31) Great places to look for thought leadership

Links

Dr. Micah Weinberg’s LinkedIn

Phil Dillard’s LinkedIn

Thruline Networks