Former Leaders Join to Form California Center for Government Innovation

Three former leaders in state government have collaborated to form the nonprofit California Center for Government Innovation (CCGI), “focused on modernizing California government program delivery through human-centered design, common-sense approaches and emerging technologies.”

The organization will “host activities and conduct research to help inform new strategies for driving meaningful innovation in California government,” CCGI said in an announcement on its website last week.

The key players are:

• Marybel Batjer, former secretary of the California Government Operations Agency (GovOps), whose most recent position was as president of the California Public Utilities Commission
• Michael Wilkening, a former secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency who has most recently served in several governmental advisory capacities, including to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Executive Office of the President
• Keely Bosler, who served as cabinet secretary for former Gov. Jerry Brown and was director of the California Department of Finance in the administrations of Brown and Newsom

“We plan to host an innovation lab for state leaders to consider the art of the possible, designed as a safe space for industry and government leaders to collaborate and share knowledge,” Wilkening said in the announcement. “The lab will explore improving government services through technology and process modernization, separated from the pressure of sales and other distractions.”

According to the announcement, CCGI is being launched as a public benefit nonprofit (501c3) “and will strive to be a center of excellence and leadership, where new applications and guiding policies around program design and technology can be developed between government officials, industry experts, philanthropy and academia to enhance government delivery.”

The announcement adds: “Uniquely, the center will focus on program-level problem statements that maintain the dialogue at a practical level, aiming for outcomes independent of any given technology or process.”