A Los Angeles native, Hertzberg served as both Speaker of the California State Assembly and as Majority Leader of the California State Senate. His first act as Speaker was to rearrange seating on the Assembly floor to eliminate reference to “the right and the left side of the aisle” and bring the political parties together.

Between his tenure in the State Assembly and State Senate, Mr. Hertzberg worked extensively in the global climate and energy sector as chairman of several renewable energy companies. For his work, he was recognized by the Guardian Magazine (UK) as “50 People Who Could Save the Planet,” won the World Bank Award (“Lighting Africa”), was recognized as a “Force for Good” by Tomorrow’s Company in the UK, and by the United Nations with a “Wind Made Award.” He has been recognized by CNBC as a “Top 100 Low Carbon Pioneer” and honored by the Wall Street Journal for Innovation in the field of energy.

Senator Hertzberg’s priority has been to strengthen subnational relationships among state and local leaders in the US and provincial leaders globally. As a board member of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation for more than 20 years, Mr. Hertzberg has led a number of delegations of State Legislative leaders across the globe. In addition, as Chair of the LA County Economic Development Corporation, Mr. Hertzberg led sub-national delegations to many Asian countries. As Speaker of the Assembly, he established the Assembly Office of International Relations and hosted local leaders from more than 70 countries to establish sub-national relationships.

Mr. Hertzberg has been a board member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.