2017 California Visionary Luncheon Series

The Chamber's acclaimed California Visionaries Luncheon Series and National Leaders Luncheon Series is a bipartisan endeavor that introduces  prominent and dedicated statewide and nationally recognized public service individuals to the Southern California business community.  



Featuring: Assembly Member Patrick O'Donnell
 

In November 2014, Patrick O'Donnell was elected to the California State Assembly to represent District 70, which includes the cities of Long Beach, Signal Hill, San Pedro as well as Catalina Island.

Assemblymember O'Donnell is a teacher with over 20 years’ experience in the classroom. As a leader dedicated to quality education, he helped create a program at his high school to provide students with more instructional time and lobbied in Sacramento for more school funding. A firm believer in guaranteeing access to career technical education and vocational opportunities, he fought to establish an afterschool digital academy to teach kids valuable media skills they can use in school and the workplace.

O’Donnell also previously served as a member of the Long Beach City Council and was instrumental in delivering the city’s first budget surplus in over a decade. In addition, he enacted a "rainy day fund" policy, which requires the City Council to set aside reserves in anticipation of tough economic times. O’Donnell also secured funding for police gang-unit officers that helped bring down crime to its lowest level in 41 years.

As Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assemblymember O’Donnell worked to ensure more than $14 billion in additional funds were dedicated to our schools and community colleges in the 2015 Budget and passed legislation to create safer learning environments for LGBTQ students.  During his first term in the Assembly, O’Donnell also protected patient safety through a bill signed into law that addresses ambulance wait times at emergency rooms.

Assemblymember O’Donnell currently serves as Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Ports as well as the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace where he has championed efforts to grow maritime industry and attract new jobs in aerospace in California. Chief among these efforts  is his Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Ports Program, which will make California’s ports eligible to receive state resources for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction infrastructure projects.

Born in Long Beach, O'Donnell graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a degree in History and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He lives in the Los Altos neighborhood with his wife and their two daughters.