Panelists

Moderator

Panelists

Bios

Jay Ross

Jay Ross is a member of Lathrop GPM LLP's Litigation Department, for which he previously served as Co-chair for five years, and a member of its Executive Committee. He handles contract, business, and payment disputes that includes representing creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, as well as real estate disputes, including construction, purchase and sale transactions, commercial landlord-tenant disputes, easements, and land use.

Ahmad Thomas

Ahmad Thomas is the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), one of the nation’s most dynamic business associations representing the global technology companies driving the innovation economy and its ecosystem. A former investment banker and senior Congressional aide, he brings two decades of experience working both in and on behalf of businesses, social enterprises, and governments, where he has honed a cross-functional skill set grounded in finance, purpose-driven growth, strategy, business development, public policy, and communications, with a deep working knowledge of the practice and application of stakeholder capitalism principles.

Thomas has catalyzed industry-leading initiatives to harness the potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, creating the Institute for California AI Policy (I-CAP) to help shape the regulatory posture needed to support its development and further deployment. He has also focused efforts with global technology brands to operationalize change around inclusion and belonging, implementing a partnership strategy for SVLG to diversify STEM talent pipelines by piloting a first-of-its-kind alliance with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and leading Silicon Valley companies. Thomas spearheaded the development and successful execution of a strategic plan to modernize firm-wide operations, streamline organizational design via the creation of three new Centers of Expertise, and implement a diversified revenue model to achieve scale and generate the highest annual membership in the organization’s 45-year history.

Prior to joining SVLG in 2020, Thomas worked for a decade as an investment banker at Barclays, where he managed over $15 billion in debt financings. He specialized in structuring and financing public infrastructure, social impact, and development projects across multiple sectors. Thomas held a variety of important roles during his tenure, including leading state of California and Silicon Valley regional municipal banking teams, as well as leading the Firm’s public sector coverage of social impact engagements in the 13 western U.S. states. He served on the 8-member global advisory board for Barclays’ Social Innovation Facility, charged with strategically aligning internal investments with sustained social and environmental impact.

Thomas was lead banker on several innovative transactions, most notably executing the first-ever Social Bonds issue for a non-profit in the U.S. municipal bond market. This landmark deal received multiple awards, including the “Social Project Bond of the Year” by Environmental Finance. Thomas was recognized as a “Rising Star” by The Bond Buyer, the leading municipal bond market publication. He also received a prestigious Barclays Global Citizenship and Diversity Award for his work as a deal team lead enabling sustainable growth.

Thomas began his professional career as an aide to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on Capitol Hill, where he served as the lead advisor on finance and economic policy.

He serves on several boards aligned with his core passions around technology, sports and adventure, and helping underserved communities. This currently includes the Bay Area Host Committee, California Partners Project, HealthRIGHT 360, Housing Trust Silicon Valley, NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), San Jose Symphony, and SVLG Foundation. Thomas has volunteered time in advisory roles at multiple start-up companies and was selected in 2023 as a “Top 50 Diverse Board Candidate” by the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence and Equilar.

He is an American Leadership Forum, Senior Fellow and is included in the Silicon Valley Business Journal "Power 100" - a list of the most influential people working in Silicon Valley today. Thomas holds a B.S. from Cornell University, Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Christopher Thornberg

Christopher Thornberg

Christopher Thornberg Ph.D. has been called many things throughout his career as an economist – “Dr. Doom,” a contrarian, even an optimist – but his favorite thing to be called is always: correct. Dr. Thornberg founded Beacon Economics LLC in 2006 and under his leadership the firm has become one of the most respected research organizations in California serving public and private sector clients across the United States. In 2015, Dr. Thornberg also became Director of the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development and an Adjunct Professor at the School.

An expert in economic and revenue forecasting, regional economics, economic policy, and labor and real estate markets, Dr. Thornberg has consulted for private industry, cities, counties, and public agencies in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Seattle, San Diego, the Inland Empire, Las Vegas, Washington State, Orange County, Sacramento, Arizona, and other geographies across the nation. He has also worked on Wall Street, advising hedge fund manager Paulson & Co. about macroeconomic issues.

Recent notable projects include policy analyses for the International Franchise Association; housing and rent control studies for the California Apartment Association; research supporting the strategic allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the County of San Joaquin; an analysis and forecast of the socioeconomic factors that affect traffic growth and demand along a major interstate in Southern California; research on affordable housing in Los Angeles for a major law firm; quarterly regional economic outlooks for the East Bay Economic Development Alliance; a recession recovery plan for the City and County of San Francisco; an annual economic assessment of LA’s city council districts for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; an economic and revenue forecast for the City of San Luis Obispo; an analysis of the local technology industry for the Santa Cruz County Workforce Development Board; and an economic impact study for the 2024 Los Angeles Olympic Games Committee.

Dr. Thornberg became nationally known for forecasting the subprime mortgage market crash that began in 2007 and was one of the few economists on record to predict the global economic recession that followed. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he stood in opposition to the panic over a Depression that never happened, and he consistently urges his audiences to beware of narratives that diverge from the reality of data.

Well known for his ability to capture and hold audiences, Dr. Thornberg has presented to hundreds of leading business, government, and nonprofit organizations across the globe including Chevron, The New Yorker, Colliers International, Western Alliance Bank, the California Chamber of Commerce, City National Bank, the National Confectioner’s Association, the Washington State Association of Counties, the California State Association of Counties, State Farm Insurance, the City of Los Angeles, the California and Nevada Credit Union League, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, and the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, among many others. He has testified before the U.S. Congress House Committee on Financial Services on municipal debt issues, before the California State Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation regarding rule changes related to Proposition 13, and before the Los Angeles City Council about proposed changes to local minimum wage laws.

Dr. Thornberg is a contributor to consensus economic forecasts published by the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, the National Association of Business Economists, and the Seidman Research Institute at Arizona State University. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, is an Executive Member of the Central City Association (Los Angeles), and is a member of the California Association for Local Economic Development.

Prior to launching Beacon Economics, Dr. Thornberg was a senior economist with UCLA’s Anderson Forecast. He previously taught in the MBA program at UCLA’s Anderson School, in the Rady School of Business at UC San Diego, and at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand. He has also held a faculty position in the economics department at Clemson University.

A well-known media commentator, Dr. Thornberg has appeared on all the major networks, CNN, CNBC, NPR, and is regularly quoted in major national newspapers and online publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Politico, and Los Angeles Times.

Originally from upstate New York, Dr. Thornberg holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics from The Anderson School at UCLA, and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.