The California Democracy Summit

September 14, 2026 - 9:00am to 3:30pm PT

In-person location: Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Highway

Sacramento, California

The California Democracy Summit will bring together nonpartisan state and local experts to confront key challenges and leverage emerging opportunities to increase voter turnout in California. By addressing the barriers that drive the racial and ethnic turnout gap, the Summit aims to help build a multiracial democracy that advances more inclusive and equitable outcomes for the state’s communities.

The Summit is hosted by the Center for Inclusive Democracy in partnership with the California Black Power Network, the League of Women Voters of California, Asian Law Caucus, power california, and California Common Cause.

This is a hybrid event.

Register to attend in person in Sacramento.

Register to attend virtually.

Summit Agenda

8:30 am – 9:00 am: Event Begins - Networking/light breakfast

9:00 am – 9:30 am: Welcome by Mindy Romero and opening recorded words by Senator Alex Padilla

9:30 am –9:45 am: Presentation Dr. Mindy Romero, Founder and Director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy

Presentation Title: What is the State of Voter Turnout and Representation in California Elections?

9:45 am – 10:30 am: Panel One - By Design or Default: What Shapes Participation and Representation in California

Description: Following Dr. Mindy Romero’s presentation about gaps in voter participation and representation, this panel will examine how those inequities operate in practice across California’s diverse communities. Panelists will explore how institutional design, practices, language and geographic barriers, unequal infrastructure, and emerging technologies shape who can participate, whose voices are heard, and who holds political power in California, and what must change to create a more inclusive and representative democracy.

Panelists:

Calvin Hedrick, Director of Policy, Training & Tribal Relations, California Native Vote Project

John Bennet, Initiative Director, California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED)

Trinh Le, Political Director, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans — PANA

Moderator: Darius Kemp, Executive Director, California Common Cause

10:30 am – 10:40 am: Break

10:40 am –11:25 am: Panel Two - Powering the People and Protecting the Vote: Strategies to Increase Voter Participation and Ensure the Voting Process is Secure

Description: Amid an executive order to restrict mail-in voting, a statewide voter ID proposition, and the growing possibility of federal interference in the midterms, organizations are planning events and activities to counteract suppressive tactics. Our panelists will discuss their plans to encourage voting, bring joy and culture into the voting process, and protect the vote.

Panelists:

Brittany Stonesifer Voting Rights and Redistricting Program Manager, California Common Cause

Karen Diaz, Organizing Supervising Manager, IVE, California Immigrant Policy Center

Lian Cheun, Executive Director of Khmer Girls in Action

Sydney Fang, Policy Director, Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment (AAPI FORCE-EF)

Moderator: Deanna Kitamura, Managing Attorney, Voting Rights, Asian Law Caucus

11:25 am –11:35 am: Break

11:35 am – 12:20 pm: Panel Three - Beyond Turnout, From Meaningful Youth-Led Voter Engagement to Long-term Civic Power

Description: Across California has persistent gaps in voter registration and turnout that fall hardest on young people of color and first-generation voters. That means we have to look beyond turnout. So the question isn't just how we get more young people to vote, but what do we need to build for young people to stay engaged voters over time? Panelists will discuss what meaningful youth engagement looks like, particularly for communities that have historically been shut out of the political process and or let down by policy on the issues they care about most. Because how young voters experience democracy is tied to their everyday lives: whether they can afford to live here, find opportunity, feel like they belong, or see a future for themselves in California. We will talk about trust, relationships, access, and opportunities young voters need to have a real say in their communities. Ultimately, how we build those conditions will help determine whether young people feel democracy is happening to them or with them.

Panelists:

Bulmaro “Boomer” Vicente, Political Director, Chispa

Clarissa LaGuardia, Executive Director, California Center for Civic Participation

Josh Lee, Director, Youth Power Fund

Naomi Lopez, Youth Climate Organizing Manager, at EnviroVoters

Moderator: Saa’un Bell, Executive Vice President, Power California

12:20 pm – 12:30 pm: Welcome by Chet Hewitt, CEO, Sierra Health Foundation

12:30 pm – 1:15 pm: Lunch Break/networking

1:15 pm – 2:00 pm: Panel Four - What to Expect this November and in 2028?: Threats, Risks, Opportunities in Election Access in the U.S.

Description: California elections will not happen in a vacuum. At the national level, major US Supreme Court decisions have come down about the Voting Rights Act, the right of parties and corporations to spend in elections, and the timeline of accepting mail in ballots. Ongoing cases will determine the right of the presidential administration to issue executive orders impacting election administration, who gets to review voter rolls and when USPS delivers mail-in ballots. How will the national landscape impact California’s elections this November and moving forward? What opportunities do we have to ensure safe and accessible elections? Panelists will discuss how these SCOTUS decisions and executive orders will impact our elections, what the major threats or opportunities are, and what community and advocacy organizations are doing to respond.

Panelists:

Aaron Robertson, Senior Director of Coalitions, Catalyst California

Carmen Nicole-Cox, Political Director, Black Women Organized for Political Action

Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration

Moderator: Kristin Nimmers, Policy & Campaigns Manager, California Black Power Network

2:00 pm – 2:10 pm: Break

2:10 pm – 2:55 pm: Closing Panel - Protecting California Voters in 2026: Voter ID, the California Voting Rights Act, and Public Financing

Description: A multiracial democracy needs four things at once: voters of color able to cast a ballot; those ballots translating into meaningful representation; elections held when the broadest electorate participates; and people of color able to run, win, and govern. Each issue on this panel speaks to one of those needs. California’s work is two-sided: defending voters against new barriers while building systems that bring more people into political power. Panelists will address Prop 39’s likely disenfranchising effects; the California Voting Rights Act of 2026 package and the federal rollbacks they answer, and Prop 4, which would lift the ban on public campaign financing. The moderator will connect these measures to Prop 5’s restructuring of the process for replacing a state officer after a recall.

Panelists:

Mayor Adena Ishii, Berkeley

Darius Kemp, Executive Director, California Common Cause

Julia Gomez, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU of Southern California

Additional panelist to be announced.

Moderator: Jenny Farrell, Executive Director, League of Women Voters, California

2:55 pm – 3:15 pm: Closing Keynote by Tom Hicks, Fmr. Chair of the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC)

3:15 pm –3:30 pm: Close of Summit