What you need to know: 21 state employees, representing 9 agencies and 15 departments from across California, are now part of the state’s first Innovation Fellows program. This prestigious group represents a key part of the Governor’s latest executive order to develop more efficient, effective, and engaged services for Californians.
Sacramento – The State of California is now home to the inaugural cohort of Governor’s Innovation Fellows.
The first cohort consists of 21 employees across sectors, agencies, and skillsets, with a mission of collaborating to address unique statewide challenges through innovative ideas. The Fellows are part of a new program managed by the Office of Data and Innovation (ODI). For the next 6 months, the members of the cohort will receive training, work with members of the private sector California Breakthrough Project, and partner with academia.
On July 15, the Governor issued a new executive order to help further integrate efficiency, engagement, and effectiveness into state operations. The order helps achieve his vision of transforming state government by ending slow and complicated bureaucratic processes and moving to an efficient, collaborative, and more productive model that effectively delivers measurable outcomes and value for all Californians.
The Governor’s Innovation Fellows Program is not just a learning opportunity. It’s a delivery engine. Unlike traditional leadership programs, Fellows are selected not by seniority, but for their initiative, creativity, problem-solving mindset, and customer focus.
—Jeffery Marino — Director, ODI
The Fellows cohort will last 6 months. They will work together, as well as with other state departments, solving real public sector challenges. They will achieve this by:
- Dedicating 80% of their time to priority projects to improve the state’s efficiency, service delivery, and customer experience
- Receiving structured training and hands-on support from ODI, CalAcademy, and partners from private industry and academia
- Working with executive sponsors and subject matter experts in teaming, product approaches, data collection, and customer research to iterate and drive measurable results
This program is built to scale. Every 4 months, a new cohort of Fellows will join the program, overlapping with the previous group to support smooth transitions and knowledge sharing. Agencies are encouraged to participate in at least one cohort between now and the end of the administration.
Leading in engagement
Governor Newsom has implemented new technologies through ODI, including the groundbreaking Engaged California project. This first-in-the-nation digital democracy platform is currently being used as part of a pilot project to listen to those impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires. The pilot is entering its final recruitment phase this week after getting early ideas and feedback from Angelenos about what is most important during the rebuilding process. The team also recently launched the second conversation as part of the Executive Order, designed to gain government efficiency ideas from the Californians who make up the state workforce.