Was this email forwarded to you or viewed on our website? Sign up here to receive sf.citi’s bi-monthly newsletter directly in your inbox.
TECH’S FUTURE IN THE BAY AREA & CALIFORNIA
sf.citi joined a number of industry and government leaders on Clubhouse to discuss the tech exodus and the future of the Bay Area and California at large.
Thousands of listeners tuned in to hear former Mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs, California State Senator Scott Wiener, Partner at Initialized Capital Kim-Mai Cutler, former VP of Public Policy at Postmates Vikrum Aiyer, and sf.citi Executive Director Jennifer Stojkovic. Early into the conversation, we were joined by California State Assemblymember Marc Berman, who, alongside Senator Wiener, expressed confidence that California’s culture and progressive politics would continue to attract residents and tech companies. Kim-Mai Cutler, on the other hand, questioned whether local policymakers grasp the true impact the pandemic and shift to remote work will have on state and city budgets. Days after the discussion, in fact, San Francisco’s largest private employer Salesforce announced its own remote work policy.
Former Mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs eloquently summarized key takeaways from the conversation: “What we can do better is build a regulatory framework that allows early entry companies to start easily. We can do better in terms of making folks feel part of the team. We can also do better in making sure gains are widely shared; that we have a robust safety net.”
SCALING SOCIAL IMPACT: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT EDITION
On February 18, join sf.citi for Part 3 of our Scaling Social Impact event series and hear leaders at top San Francisco tech companies discuss how they’re empowering tech workers and customers to get civically engaged.
Gone are the days when companies could steer clear of politics. Employees and customers alike increasingly expect the businesses they love to take a stand on social and political issues. The tech industry has certainly gotten the memo, leveraging its platforms, products, and culture to increase civic engagement in recent years. At our third edition of Scaling Social Impact on February 18, we’ll hear from three tech companies pioneering ways to integrate civic engagement into their public policy and social impact strategies.
Our lineup of industry experts includes Joan Hanawi, Social Impact Manager at Lyft, Jim Green, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Salesforce, and Casey Aden-Wansbury, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Instacart. Each of these tech leaders will share examples of successful civic engagement initiatives carried out during the pandemic—and how to scale these efforts into an increasingly remote future.
Register for Scaling Social Impact
NASHVILLE ON THE LIST OF TECH HUBS TO WATCH
On February 24, join sf.citi for the next installment of our new event series, Mapping The Tech Exodus, as we compare the tech policy landscapes of San Francisco and Nashville.
sf.citi Executive Director Jennifer Stojkovic will speak to Brian Moyer, President and CEO of the Greater Nashville Technology Council, which represents Middle Tennessee’s $8 billion information technology ecosystem and 60,000 tech professionals. While San Francisco continues to see an exodus of tech companies and workers, Nashville has been singled out as one of the fastest-growing tech markets in North America. On February 24, Stojkovic and Moyer will discuss how the trend toward decentralization will affect emerging tech hubs like Nashville and whether San Francisco’s loss could be Nashville’s gain. Register for this inside look at one of the cities competing to be the next Silicon Valley.
sf.citi’s Mapping the Tech Exodus event series explores tech trends across the country and analyzes how they compare to what we’re seeing in San Francisco. Each discussion features a new tech policy leader to weigh in on the ongoing migration of tech workers and companies outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as approaches other cities are taking to attract tech talent (and tax dollars). Earlier this week, we kicked off the series with Nicholas Merriam of sea.citi who gave us the scoop on Seattle’s tech scene—stay tuned for a forthcoming blog with highlights from our conversation!
Register for Mapping the Tech Exodus
2021 sf.citi POLICY PRIORITIES
In a year promising almost as much change as 2020, sf.citi is excited to showcase our 2021 Policy Agenda.
At the start of each year, the sf.citi team works closely with our Policy Advisory Committee to identify and define the policy areas that matter most to sf.citi and our members. We then integrate these areas of focus into our policy agenda, which serves as a framework for all sf.citi advocacy work and programming throughout the year. Our 2021 policy agenda includes many policy priorities from previous years, though each reflects the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and remote work.
Digital equity and workforce development, for example, are more important than ever in the COVID-19 era. To eliminate the digital divide, we support hardware donations, the expansion of 5G technology and infrastructure, and greater tech-related opportunities within SFUSD classrooms. Resolving the City’s housing affordability crisis is another longtime priority of sf.citi that has become even more pressing as huge swaths of people and businesses leave San Francisco. We remain committed to San Francisco’s COVID-19 recovery and outlined economic relief recommendations in our 2021 policy priorities.
DID YOU KNOW?
Tech workers are using their expertise to develop tools that help people navigate the confusing web and city and state websites to schedule coronavirus vaccine appointments. Volunteers in California, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas are channeling their technological skills into simplifying the vaccine appointment process. Many of their efforts are geared toward older people and marginalized communities who have been struggling to secure a vaccine slot. Read more on that here.
Comments are closed.