New digital tools are having a dramatic effect on public institutions and are being used with greater precision to effect social change and political reform.
Venture investor and former Ebay exec Steve Westly served as California's controller, overseeing the finances of the world's 8th largest economy. He is one of the key Silicon Valley figures in President Obama's historic 2008 campaign. His firm's investment strategy focuses on supporting transformation of companies addressing critical social and environmental issues.
Josh Silver will talk about Represent.Us, a movement leveraging social media and technology to enact the American Anti-Corruption Act, a law that would overhaul campaign finance and impose strict lobbying and conflict of interest laws. Using a model borrowed from cyber-security, Represent.us recruited convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to identify loopholes and harden the target against monied interests influencing government.
