Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 21; Democratic Party

Josh Becker - The Innovation Democrat: Bio

Josh Becker is a Green Energy Entrepreneur who for over 20 years has worked at the nexus of community activism, technology, environmentalism, and social justice. Uniting entrepreneurial expertise with a passion for social change, Josh co-founded New Cycle Capital, a pioneer in building socially responsible businesses.

Josh is a 15-year resident of Menlo Park, where he lives with his wife Jonna and their two young children, Sophie and Aaron.

The child of an educator and social worker, Josh Becker grew up in suburban Pennsylvania. He first felt called to fight for social justice in college, where he joined the Williams College chapter of MassPIRG (Public Interest Research Group) and grew the chapter to the largest in the state. Josh led organizing efforts on campus and in the community to build support for progressive legislation, most notably the 1989 Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURN), now a national model.

After graduation, Josh turned his passion for progressive organizing into a career. He worked to elect Democrats in tough swing districts first as a Field Organizer then Communications Director. Josh then went to the Capitol, working first consulting to the EPA on environmental markets, then as a Congressional aide.

In 1992 Josh traveled to war-torn El Salvador to help rebuild homes, open a local market, and build a school, where he taught basic literacy and math skills to village children. In response to the Rwandan Genocide in 1995, Josh oversaw Relief-Net, an online non-profit which raised awareness, provided updates on results and directed donors to relief organizations such as the Red Cross and Oxfam.

Josh earned a joint MBA and Law Degree from Stanford University in 1999. While a student, Josh co-founded and managed the Stanford Board of Fellows program, which trains students to serve on the boards of local non-profits, engaging them in social progress at the beginning of their careers, rather than the end. So far almost 1,000 MBAs have been trained by the Board Fellows program and it has been used as a model by dozens of other schools across the country serving more than 250 non-profit organizations a year.

While working in the green energy & technology sectors, Josh built upon the Stanford Fellows program model to found the non-profit collaborative Full Circle Fund (FCF). FCF is a grant-making and civic participation organization that brings together resources from donors and skills from individuals to fund, design and support local, statewide and national programs providing tangible benefits in their communities. Now entering its second decade, FCF has had particular success in the fields of Education, Environmental Sustainability, Economic Development and Technology.

Josh has worked with the Obama administration on green energy and education policy, for example, to develop the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) bonds. These bonds allow municipalities to finance and manage renewable energy retrofits on residential properties, with minimal front-end cost to homeowners while simultaneously creating local, green collar jobs.

Josh's passion for education lead him to co-found National Lab Day, a program endorsed by the Obama administration which pairs experts in the fields of math and science with high school students, educators and volunteers to increase learning comprehension in these critical fields at no cost to local school districts.

In addition to his non-profit work at Full Circle Fund, Josh is the co-founder of SmartTransportation.org, current Treasurer and incoming Chairman of the University of California at Merced Foundation Board of Trustees, and serves on the National Board of Directors for One Economy.

Josh would appreciate your vote in the Democratic Primary for the 21st Assembly District, Tuesday June 8th!

For more information, please visit http://www.joshbecker2010.org or call 650-424-8500.