Attorney General Rob Bonta makes headlines almost every day, whether he’s suing manufacturers of toxic chemicals or negotiating a settlement with Walmart over its role in the opioid crisis. He has led statewide fights for racial, economic, and environmental justice and championed the rights of immigrant families, renters, and working Californians.

We are honored to have AG Bonta as our featured speaker on Wednesday, January 11, at 7 p.m. He’ll explain what being “the people’s attorney” entails and what he sees as the most pressing issues facing California.

This event is open to the public. Admission is $5 for club members and $10 for non-members, and tickets are available on Eventbrite. Please register early for this event so we can be sure to accommodate everyone comfortably and safely. Masks will be required.

In April 2021, Governor Gavin Newsome appointed AG Bonta to fill the unexpired term of Xavier Becerra, whom President Biden had named Secretary of Health and Welfare. Last month, voters overwhelmingly elected Bonta to his first full term. He is the first person of Filipino descent and the second Asian-American to hold the office.

The Attorney General says his passion for justice and fairness is “hard-wired into his DNA” thanks to his parents. They fought on the frontlines of some of America’s most important social justice movements, including organizing for the United Farm Workers union.

The AG worked his way through Yale, graduating with honors in 1993. He then spent a year at Oxford studying law, politics and economics. He returned to America to earn his law degree at Yale while also working at a community service organization, where he managed activities for thirty staff members and a hundred children.

After he clerked for a judge in the Federal District Court, AG Bonta went into private practice from 1999 to 2003. He was part of a team of lawyers who partnered with the ACLU to implement new protocols to prevent racial profiling by the California Highway Patrol. He left his law firm to work as a Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco from 2003 to 2012. In 2010, he was elected to the Alameda City Council and, two years later, to the State Assembly, representing Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro.

He served in the State Assembly until March 2021, when Governor Newsome tapped him to be Attorney General. During his years in the Assembly, he sponsored bills that made major changes to California’s penal code and to immigration, health care, and housing laws. Among his many legislative accomplishments was passage of a bill he drafted to end the use of for-profit, private prisons and detention facilities in California. Governor Newson signed the legislation in 2019, making California the first state to take this action.

We hope you’ll join us this evening with one of California’s top elected officials!