28th San Francisco Power of Choice Event

Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis (she/her) is the 50th, and first woman, Lieutenant Governor of California. From 2010 to 2013, Kounalakis served as US Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary. Her memoir of that time, Madam Ambassador, was published in 2015. Prior to her service, Kounalakis spent 18 years as an executive at the housing development firm, AKT Development. Throughout her career, she has served on numerous boards and commissions including California’s First 5 Commission, the San Francisco War Memorial, San Francisco Port Commission, and the Association of American Ambassadors. Eleni Kounalakis is a graduate of Dartmouth College and U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the American College of Greece.

Asm. Bauer-Kahan is an accomplished attorney, environmental advocate, community volunteer, law professor, and mother. A Bay Area native, she is the granddaughter of refugees who came to the United States to escape the Holocaust. Their experiences inspired her to use her career and personal time to help others in her community, solve complex problems, protect civil rights, and fight to ensure everyone has the opportunity to succeed. She was elected to office in 2018 and was re-elected for a 2nd and 3rd term.

This past session, her bills AB 1666 and AB 1242 were signed into law and will protect patients, providers, and their digital information from civil actions, retaliation, and extradition actions for providing abortion care that is legal in the State of California. She is the founder and Chair of the Select Committee on Women's Reproductive Health. She lives in Orinda with her husband and three school aged children.

Asm. Bonta was elected to serve California’s 18th Assembly District of the East Bay, including Alameda, Emeryville, and Oakland.

Before being elected to the State Assembly, Mia served as the CEO of Oakland Promise and the School Board President in the City of Alameda.

Mia has seen firsthand the cracks in the systems that keep the community disadvantaged and lacking in resources. In the State Assembly, her focus is to uplift the most vulnerable in the community, she is committed to fighting homelessness, building more affordable housing, passing transformative criminal justice reform legislation, combating the threat of climate change, and is passionate about reproductive justice for all. Assemblymember Bonta’s priority is to make California a more affordable, inclusive, and equitable place for all.

Asm. Bryan represents California’s 55th Assembly District. He is Chair of the Assembly’s Elections Committee and the Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion and Vice Chair and a founding member of the Renters Caucus. He authored key legislation to end prison gerrymandering, support foster youth, expand economic opportunity and protect communities from oil drilling. He secured funding to establish the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy at UCLA School of Law and California’s first Community College Climate Change Education Center. Prior to election to the Assembly, he held Director positions at the Black Policy Project at UCLA and the Ralph J. Bunche Center.

Shannon is a policy expert, political strategist, and passionate LGBTQ leader with more than 15 years of experience as a change maker in California state and local government, electoral campaigns, the classroom, and mission-driven advocacy. Under her leadership, NARAL helped establish the CA Future of Abortion Council, has championed and enacted dozens of pivotal reproductive freedom bills, and grown our statewide membership by more than 60%. Shannon previously worked in the Civil Rights section of the CA Department of Justice, and in the executive offices of then-Attorney General Kamala Harris, State Assemblymember Raul Bocanegra, and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Mini is a seasoned campaigner, skilled coalition-builder, high-impact organizer, and talented organizational leader with over 20 years of experience leading federal, state, and local campaigns, as well as advocacy efforts around reproductive rights, gender justice, and racial justice. Mini has a wealth of governmental and political experience at the state and federal level, including advising the Biden-Harris administration on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility and serving as Women’s Vote Director on the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Mini has also worked on reproductive rights in Texas and at the national level and worked for several Members of Congress.