New Year, New Beginnings

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season.

With the New Year upon us, I wanted to share some of the inspirational movements for change and new beginnings that I've seen over the last several weeks.

The most notable movement for change has been Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. When the Senator first visited California as a presidential candidate last January, the question on everyone's mind was whether he could translate his tremendous speaking skills into a viable campaign. He has done that and more. What impressed me most about the senator’s victory last week was the historic numbers of young and independent voters who came out to vote for him. I believe the nation needs a candidate who can energize the next generation of voters and reach out to independent voters who have given up on both parties. If you are looking for something to inspire you, take a look at Senator Obama’s victory remarks after the Iowa caucuses.

Anita and I were proud to host the senator at our home six weeks ago, where he fired up the crowd with his powerful oratory and innovative policy agenda. Interestingly, there were a large number of Republicans who had crossed party lines feeling that he is the one person who can bring the country together and restore our image abroad.

The World's Best Entrepreneur?

Dr. Muhammad Yunus is an inspiring and determined man. He lives in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world. In 1976 he had a simple idea that he made revolutionary: he said that you could make small loans to the poor without requiring collateral – and earn a return on your investment. Thirty years later, as head of the Grameen Bank, his organization has provided loans for 7.4 million people, helping to lift them out of poverty. In 2006, Dr. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for improving the lives of such an astonishing number of people.

During a recent visit to the Bay Area, I spoke with Dr. Yunus about how we can use these same concepts to help lift people out of poverty in the United States and how we can use some of Silicon Valley's technology to create a new entrepreneurial class, much like we did at eBay. I have recently urged the state’s pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, to study whether they can earn a market rate of return by investing in micro-financing funds like those that Dr. Yunus has pioneered. If California’s pension funds decide to do this, California could lead a global movement to not only lift millions out of poverty, but to help provide economic stability to parts of the world that would benefit all of us.

Motivating the Next Generation

When I was sixteen, I joined a small club at my high school called Junior State of America (JSA), a program run by students to increase their participation in the political process. I recently spoke at the JSA convention in Santa Clara, where I urged the crowd of 1,100 young people to get politically involved and to transcend partisan politics to tackle the tough challenges we face as a country. Seeing this fired up group of young people passionately committed to political and civic participation would make anyone feel that our democracy is in good hands.

Clean Tech in Europe

Much like the rest of the world, Europe is holding its breath, waiting to see what kind of commitment America will make to stop global warming. We are all interconnected – the average person in America creates seven times the amount of pollution as the average person in China. If every person in China, India, Brazil and the rest of the developing world follows our example, global warming will increase at undreamed of levels.

Californians have led the country in responsible emission reduction policy, but many parts of Europe are moving even faster. In November, I was invited to give the keynote speech at the International Technology Forum in Barcelona to discuss what California can learn from Spain and what Spain can learn from California. Leaders from Europe and America were able to work together to discuss a common game plan for solving global warming issues. This is the type of coordination the world is crying out for – and I was glad to be able to play a small role in making it happen.

With the New Year also comes the beginning of the presidential nominating season. For the first time in 40 years, California will play a major role in deciding who the next president will be. Whatever your political affiliation, I hope you’ll be part of the debate and that you will be sure to vote on February 5th. Electing the next president of the United States is the most important democratic process in the world.

I hope these examples of new beginnings and change is motivating to you. If we can each make a small positive change to make the planet a better place, the results could change the world. That's a New Year's resolution we can all agree on.

Sincerely,

Steve Westly