Jerry Brown has been involved in local or state politics for over 40 years. As Governor of California, Brown has dramatically cut waste and inefficiencies throughout government, and raised the state’s clean energy goal to 33 percent. His various roles in civic life range from LA Community College Board Trustee, to Mayor of Oakland, to his first term as California Governor in 1974. In those first two terms, he showed his dedication to the cause by instituting cutting-edge environmental protections that became guidelines for the nation to follow, as well as adopting the nation's first energy efficiency standards, and make California the leader in co-generation, solar and wind energy.

Brown received his B.A. degree in Classics from UC Berkley in 1961 and then entered Yale Law School, where he graduated in 1964.