About CITED

California urgently needs a source of impartial research, analysis, policy recommendations, and public leadership on the emerging digital threats facing our democracy. The California Initiative for Technology and Democracy, a project of California Common Cause, is stepping into that void.  

OUR MISSION

The California Initiative for Technology and Democracy seeks state-level solutions to the threats that disinformation, AI, deepfakes, and other emerging technologies pose to our democracy and our elections.

Our Approach

CITED is intentionally cross-disciplinary. To ensure our solutions are both impactful and implementable, we have brought to our work leaders from civil rights and civic engagement, law and public policy, industry and tech, and more. Our advisors include a former Democratic leader and a former Republic leader of the State Legislature, former civic trust and integrity executives from the nation’s largest social media platforms, leading academics studying cybersecurity and digital threats, and many others.

CITED recognizes that a challenge this enormous requires multiple strategies employed simultaneously. In addition to leading a legislative strategy in 2024, CITED intends to provide active public leadership and strategic communications throughout the election cycle around use of AI and deepfakes in the public debate. CITED will also do mass communications and voter education, host events to raise the visibility of these issues, and work in coalition with civil rights, civic engagement, GOTV, and powerbuilding partners.

Staff

  • Drew Liebert Headshot

    Drew Liebert

    INITIATIVE DIRECTOR

  • Leora Gershenzon Headshot

    Leora Gershenzon

    POLICY DIRECTOR

  • Mariko Yoshihara Headshot

    Mariko Yoshihara

    SENIOR POLICY ADVOCATE

  • Ama Anane Headshot

    Ama Anane

    SENIOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER

  • David Evan Harris Headshot

    David Evan Harris

    SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR

  • Ken Wang Headshot

    Ken Wang

    SENIOR POLICY ADVOCATE

Board of Directors

  • Jonathan Mehta Stein Headshot

    Jonathan Mehta Stein

    CHAIR

    Executive Director, California Common Cause

  • Sam Blakeslee Headshot

    Sam Blakeslee, Ph.D.

    Minority Leader Emeritus, California State Assembly; Former State Senator

    Founding Director, Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy, Cal Poly SLO

  • Yosef Getachew Headshot

    Yosef Getachew

    Senior Policy Counsel, Reset.Tech

  • Laura Mather Headshot

    Laura Mather

    Cybersecurity CEO and Founder

  • Mindy Romero Headshot

    Mindy Romero, Ph.D.

    Founder and Director, Center for Inclusive Democracy, USC

    Chair, California Common Cause

  • Bill Wong Headshot

    Bill Wong

    Author, Campaign Strategist

Initiative Co-Founders

  • Steven Berger Headshot

    Steven Berger

    CEO, Investor, Director, Advisor

  • Drew Liebert Headshot

    Drew Liebert

    Former Chief Counsel, California State Assembly

  • Jonathan Mehta Stein Headshot

    Jonathan Mehta Stein

    Executive Director, California Common Cause

  • Christian Storm Headshot

    Christian Storm, Ph.D

    Co-Founder, Acadly and Turnitin

Tech and Scholars Advisory Council

  • Steven Berger

    CEO, Investor, Director, Advisor

  • Stan Bunger

    Morning News Anchor Emeritus, KCBS Radio; Technology Journalist

  • Prof. Hany Farid

    UC Berkeley, Joint Appointment, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and School of Information

  • Ella Irwin

    Senior VP for Integrity, Stability.AI; Former Senior Consumer Trust Executive, Google, Amazon, Twitter

  • Laura Mather

    Cybersecurity CEO and Founder

  • Prof. Andrew Reddie

    Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley; Founder, Berkeley Risk and Security Lab

  • Smita Rajmohan

    Senior Counsel for AI Platform, Autodesk; Former Apple, UN Women USA

  • Kyle Roche

    Founder and CEO, Griptape; Former Head of Immersive Technology, Amazon

  • Prof. Mindy Romero

    Director, Center for Inclusive Democracy, USC; Chair, California Common Cause

  • Brandon Silverman

    Former CEO and Co-Founder, CrowdTangle; Knight Fellow, Institute for Democracy, Data and Politics at George Washington University

  • Christian Storm, Ph.D

    Co-Founder, Acadly and Turnitin

Politics and Public Policy Advisory Council

  • Sam Blakeslee, Ph.D

    Minority Leader Emeritus, California State Assembly; Former State Senator; Founding Director, Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy, Cal Poly SLO

  • Angelo Carusone

    Chairman and President, Media Matters

  • Bob Epstein

    Entrepreneur, Engineer, Founder, and Executive; Co-Founder, Project 2030

  • Yosef Getachew

    Senior Policy Counsel, Reset Tech

  • Samantha Gordon

    Chief Programs Officer, TechEquity Collaborative

  • Paul Hefner

    Principal, Hefner Communications

  • Bill Monning

    Majority Leader Emeritus, California State Senate; Attorney and Professor

  • Jinxia Niu

    Author; Disinformation Analyst; Program Manager for Digital Engagement, Chinese for Affirmative Action

  • Prof. Mindy Romero

    Director, Center for Inclusive Democracy, USC; Chair, California Common Cause

  • Angelica Salceda

    Director, Democracy and Civic Engagement Program, ACLU of Northern California

  • Jonathan Mehta Stein

    Executive Director, California Common Cause

  • Mitchel Winick

    Dean, Monterey College of Law

  • Bill Wong

    Author, Campaign Strategist