SACRAMENTO — Continuing his commitment to strengthen, innovate and grow California’s economy, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the creation of his Council of Economic Advisors. The Council will advise the Governor and Director of the California Department of Finance Keely Martin Bosler on wide-ranging economic issues and deepen relationships between the Administration and academic researchers to keep California moving toward an economy that is inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.

The Council will be co-chaired by Laura Tyson, Professor at the Graduate School and Faculty Director of the Institute for Business & Social Impact at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business, and Fernando Lozano, Professor of Economics at Pomona College. The Council will include Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis and the Governor’s Chief Economic and Business Advisor Lenny Mendonca, as well as top academics. The group will meet and advise the Governor upon request, and be convened and guided by the Department of Finance’s Chief Economist Irena Asmundson.

“For California to continue thriving, we need our economy to work for everyone in every corner of the state,” said Governor Newsom. “Our state is experiencing its longest economic expansion, with record-low unemployment – 3.9 percent – increases in personal income, and billions in investments, but this expansion has unevenly benefited people across the state. We need to invest for the future, adapt to a changing climate and keep our budget balanced. This Council will keep its pulse on what’s happening in our economy while making policy recommendations to prepare us for what’s to come.”

Governor Newsom announced the following members of the Council of Economic Advisors:

Fernando Lozano (co-chair), Professor of Economics at Pomona College

Laura Tyson (co-chair), Professor at the Graduate School and Faculty Director of the Institute for Business & Social Impact at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business

Irena Asmundson, Chief Economist of the California Department of Finance

Susan Athey, Economics of Technology Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business

Renee Bowen, Associate Professor of Economics, Pastor Faculty Fellow, and Director of the Center for Commerce and Diplomacy at the University of California, San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy

Christopher Costello, Professor of Natural Resource Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Bren School, and Director of the Environmental Market Solutions Lab

Mary Gray, Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, E.J. Safra Center for Ethics Fellow, and Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society Faculty Affiliate at Harvard University

Hilary Hoynes, Professor of Public Policy and Economics and holder of the Haas Distinguished Chair in Economic Disparities at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-director of the Berkeley Opportunity Lab

Eleni Kounalakis, Lieutenant Governor of California, Chair of the Governor’s International Affairs and Trade Development Interagency Committee and the Governor’s representative on international affairs and trade

Lenny Mendonca, Chief Economic and Business Advisor to the Governor and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)

Maurice Obstfeld, Class of 1958 Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley

Marianne Page, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of California, Davis

Manuel Pastor, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, Director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration, and the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change.