Change Is Coming: Leading Through Crisis with Janelle Kellman

Today, we answer the question on many of your minds, what if the people leading California actually understood the challenges real families are facing? We're talking with Jenelle Kellman, former Sausalito mayor, a climate risk and economic resilience leader, attorney, and candidate for lieutenant governor, who believes that solving California's biggest problems start at the community level.

With expertise spanning climate policy, public safety, housing affordability, and economic development, Jenelle is bringing a uniquely practical perspective to one of the state's most important conversations. We heard Jenelle speak a few weeks ago, and we were instantly hooked, and we knew we had to bring her on the show so you could hear from her yourself.

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ON THIS EPISODE

[00:00] Introduction to Janelle Kellman

[01:40] Janelle Kellman on What She’s Most Passionate About

[02:59] Janelle Kellman on Growing Up in a Family of Service

[05:09] Janelle Kellman on Aunt Charlotte & the French Resistance

[10:34] Janelle Kellman on the Moment She Decided to Run for Lieutenant Governor

[14:07] Janelle Kellman on What the Lieutenant Governor Actually Does

[17:00] Janelle Kellman on Supporting Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs

[20:02] Janelle Kellman on Climate Change, Affordability & Public Safety

[23:26] Janelle Kellman on Real Solutions for California

[24:21] Janelle Kellman on Her Vision for Education in California

[26:45] Janelle Kellman on What Gives Her Hope About California

[28:34 ]Janelle Kellman on What She’s Learned About Californians & Herself

[30:31] Janelle Kellman on What Success Would Look Like as Lieutenant Governor

[32:17] Janelle Kellman on Why She’s the Right Candidate

[34:00] Janelle Kellman on How to Follow & Support the Campaign

[34:47] Janelle Kellman on Her Dreams for California, Herself & Women

[37:57] Janelle Kellman Closing Message from The Passionistas Project

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters, Amy and Nancy Harrington, founders of The Passionistas Project, where we believe that every woman deserves to be seen, heard, and celebrated. Our mission is simple but powerful, to give women a platform to tell their unfiltered stories, the stories that inspire, challenge, and break the silence around what it really means to follow your passions.

On each episode, we have conversations about courage, authenticity, and the messy, beautiful journey of living life unapologetically.

Today, we're gonna try to answer the question on many of your minds, what if the people leading California actually understood the challenges real families are facing? We're talking with Jenelle Kellman, former Sausalito mayor, a climate risk and economic resilience leader, attorney, and candidate for lieutenant governor, who believes that solving California's biggest problems start at the community level.

With expertise spanning climate policy, public safety, housing affordability, and economic development, Jenelle is bringing a uniquely practical perspective to one of the state's most important conversations. We heard Jenelle speak a few weeks ago, and we were instantly hooked, and we knew we had to bring her on the show so you could hear from her yourself.

So we are so excited to have you here, Jenelle.

Janelle: Well, it was mutual, uh, Sisters Harrington. It was a delight to meet you both, and just to see your faces in the back of the crowd and making amazing eye contact. You guys make amazing eye contact, and so I think I delivered most of my speech actually just to you guys.

Passionistas: It was, it was a really fun day and so inspiring. And we mentioned a lot of things about you in the intro, but if you have to pick one thing, what's the one thing you're most passionate about?

Janelle: I am most passionate about the future, um, and helping people have a better future, and I think we sit here in California with a state that has so many known problems and so many known i- incredible innovations and positives, and I think we just haven't made enough progress on some of the things that are driving up the cost of living, and that's really the issue for everyday people.

It's an issue n- I mean, for most socioeconomic classes. The cost of living, the affordability crisis is real, and one of the reasons I wanted to run for lieutenant governor was to try to get to the bottom of it. What's making things so expensive? Not just to wave around the word affordability, uh, like we now read in The New York Times and other places, but to actually understand what the cost drivers are, and why our electricity bills are so high, and why our, our mortgage, our insurance rates are skyrocketing, uh, and why we can't seem to prevent wildfires even though we're well aware of the circumstances that create them and make them burn so hot and for so long.

So, uh, I think I can tell you quite fairly, I feel like I've gotten to the bottom of a lot of these things, uh, and it's been an incredible journey.

Passionistas: Well, I wanna get back to the very beginning of your journey. What, um, led you to this life of service that you have committed yourself to? What was your childhood like, and was that always a part of your family life?

Janelle: Yes. I, I believe that I come from a, a very courageous family. Uh, my grandfather was an immigrant. He escaped the pogroms in Russia, came through Ellis Island in the early 1900, uh, 1900s as a small boy, and had to work his way up. He sold pineapple cores on the street corner, um, went from job to job, and ultimately had a beautiful family, three boys.

My father was the eldest. My father was the first in our family to go, uh, and graduate from college. My grandfather had to drop out. He didn't finish his degree. And, you know, they came with nothing in their hands and created this beautiful life, and they always gave some away. They always were into philanthropy or helping the community.

And so as I was growing up, my father was very much like that, my mom too, always wanting to take care of others and making sure, uh, that we were either leading the charge, like my grand- my father was always the president of the synagogue or president of the ham radio club, um, but making sure that we were, we were supporting with our service and with our time.

And then I think for me the sort of the inflection point was that I always played team sports. I played, uh, four different sports in high school. I played two sports in college, and I've always loved being a part of something where I feel more together than I do individually. And I tell the story, you guys have heard it, about being a field hockey goalkeeper in college.

And as a goalkeeper, you are both part of a team and very much alone, and you're that last line of defense. But you can see everybody else on the field looking back at you, trusting in you, waiting for you to be strong, waiting for you to be brave. And you know, Brené Brown, uh, who I'm a big fan of, has said that courage is vulnerability in the face of uncertainty, and I think I'm someone who can thrive in uncertainty and be vulnerable at the same time, and it's given me, I think, uh, a lot of courage in life.

Passionistas: That's beautiful. Um, you shared a story at the event we were at about an aunt. Can you share that story with us?

Janelle: Oh, absolutely. Aunt Charlotte. Well, so, you know, when you embark on a journey like this, and by the way, I'm now an ultra-runner, and so I think about the campaign as the longest ultra-marathon I have ever done.

Certainly the hardest. Uh, right, you need to have stamina. You're gonna hit, uh, blocks of fatigue. You gotta make sure you get sleep, and you're fueling. You have enough protein, right? Like all of it. And so, uh, you, so you also have to think about, well, where am I gonna draw my strength from? And who inspires me and, and where does that, where does that all happen?

And so I immediately thought of my Aunt Charlotte. And so, uh, I think I mentioned to you in person, uh, because my grandfather and my father and my mother were so dedicated to education and improving their own lives, they gave me the opportunity to get an undergrad from Yale, a master's from Oxford, and a law degree from Stanford.

And while I was at Oxford, I got a call from my father that Grandpa Julie's wife, Grandma Ruthie, had passed away, and I wanted to come home and attend the funeral, but because we're Jewish and we bury our dead very quickly, I would have missed the funeral. And so my father said, "Stay in England and be with your friends."

And but, you know, they weren't my family, and so it was, it was wonderful to have them, but I didn't really get to grieve until a year later when I leave Oxford. I move to Washington, DC. I have a great job at the Castle on the Mall, the Smithsonian, at a research institution, and I get a call one day that my great Uncle Joe has passed away.

And Uncle Joe was a, a pretty famous child psychologist, so it was gonna be a big memorial, and many parts of my family were coming into town. And so I agreed to go so I could see everybody and catch up. And I walk in the door in the memorial, and, uh, as I remember it, uh, this most beautiful, very small, very diminutive French woman immediately grabs me.

Uh, it's Aunt Charlotte, and Aunt Charlotte is Uncle Joe's widow. And she whisks me away, and she's just fascinating, and she's talking to me in this beautiful French accent. And we're in the corner, and we're sharing thoughts and ideas, and I've just come back from Europe, and so we have a lot to talk about.

And, uh, it's very intimate, and at some point in the, in the day, I realize that I had not processed my grandmother's death, and so I begin to grieve and, and have some tears. And she, of course, being, uh, her husband's memorial, has the same. And, uh, just a beautiful, intimate time to have this with her. And so the, the memorial ends, and I turn to leave, and I'm walking towards the door, and she comes jogging after me or maybe just moving quickly, and she grabs my elbow, and she says, "Wait.

Wait. I have to, I have to tell you something." She says, "This was such a beautiful day with you, but I have to tell you something." And I said, "Well, of course, Aunt Charlotte, you can tell me anything," right? We just spent the whole day together, very intimate. And she said, "I, I can't quite explain it, but you remind me of me when I was in the French Resistance during World War II."

Which stopped me in my tracks. And I was so shocked that I just said, "Well, what, well, what is it you did?" And she said, "Well, I was a courier." And I think because of most Hollywood movies, it's the bike and the, the notes, and Enemy Lines you have a certain view. But I wanted to clarify, so I asked her, I said, "Well, what did you carry?"

And she said, she paused and she said, "Well, I carried thousands of children from Paris over the border to Switzerland to safety." And she said, "I escorted men in the dead of night from Paris to Toulouse so they could cross the Pyrenees into Spain. And I smuggled guns, I smuggled money, I planted explosives."

And I asked her a question that people often ask me running for office, I asked her, "Well, why?" Right? Because that seems hard. And she just said very matter-of-factly, she said, "Well, my best friend had been doing it, and she was captured and tortured and killed by the Nazis. Well, what was I to do? There was work to be done."

And so as I'm preparing on this journey of a campaign, I, I do my research to make sure that I'm fact-checking myself, and I find this beautiful article about unsung heroes of the French Resistance featuring Aunt Charlotte. And the author of that article did this amazing thing in her framing, because she, she asked the reader to contemplate what is it that makes some people move towards risk and others stay in the shadows of safety?

And I have realized through this campaign that that is not an answer I have, but it is an answer that I'm living, right? And the German philosopher Rilke used to s- uh, in his Letters to a Young Poet says, "Treat the questions as though they are the answers themselves. Live every day in your search for these, these answers."

And so that's what I'm doing in trying to understand what makes some of us go towards a more risky opportunity, uh, and, and the why, the why of it, and the bravery. And to see, you know, what I'm doing is a privilege to participate in democracy, certainly, which she didn't. She had very little choice other than to be brave.

Passionistas: You're really honoring her legacy with the life that you're living. So is there a moment, 'cause you had a great career. You had founded a wonderful 501[c][3]. You were the mayor of Sausalito. What was there... Was there a moment along the way leading up to, "I'm gonna run for lieutenant governor," that flipped the switch for you and made you decide to run?

Janelle: Yeah, and it, it has something to do with the Japanese philosophy of ikigai. So ikigai is about finding your passion and your purpose. And it only exists in the context of community. So you can't just have an individual thought. It actually has to ex- exist in relationship to others. And so the idea is that there are four concentric circles: what you wanna do, what the world needs, what you're good at, and what you can get paid for.

And if you find those, in the overlap is your passion and your purpose. And I had always pursued hard things. Um, I started an e-commerce company. Uh, I practiced law across public and private sector. I went to some great schools. Um, I sort of had a more risky orientation towards what I call an intellectual buffet of life.

And I never thought I was gonna run for office, but we had, uh, the Tubbs Fires up here in northern California in 2017. I woke up one, uh, middle of the night really, 2:00 AM, and I thought my county, Marin County, was on fire. And it wasn't, it was Sonoma, but it was one of the worst fires we had really seen after Paradise and, um, and further north.

And so I began to ask all these questions around emergency evacuation and, and pr- uh, emergency preparedness, and we flood, so if our roads are flooded, how do we get out? So all these questions led me to really asking the city council what they were doing, and the answers were not that promising. And so, uh, the community said, "Look, you've been a planning commissioner for 10 years.

You know the system. Right? Uh, you've worked on housing, general plan, disaster preparedness. Run for office and try to address this." And I was like, "Oh, gosh, no, that's not, you know, not for me, you know? I'm a team captain. I just, you know... B- Running for office seems different." But I did it, and, uh, I got more votes than anyone had ever gotten in the history of a, of a Sausalito election.

And, and I ran during COVID, so it was very, also very intimate. Um, but this is a very long-winded way to say that when I became the mayor of Sausalito, I was like, "Oh, oh, this is what I'm meant to do. Oh, this is it." Because now I'm the team captain of my town. That makes sense, right? 'Cause this is... I've been my whole life as a team captain of, of a group of people, and this made to- And so I rolled up my sleeves.

I got us a couple million dollars to look at sea level rise and flooding and, and do a vulnerability assessment, restructured the finance department, uh, made sure we hosted the first ever Pride celebration here in Sausalito, and it was so fulfilling. And I thought, "Well, how do I do this at scale?" And at the same time, I was running my global nonprofit focused on climate risk and flooding and insurance and wildfires, working closely with the United Nations, the US Embassy in Paris.

I was doing all this international work, and I had this deep regional and local experience, and I found this role of lieutenant governor that sort of pulled on both. It's an education and a climate and ocean and economic role. And I read the job description, and I was like, "That's it. That's what I should be doing."

And so it was really just about practicing my Ikigai.

Passionistas: Beautiful. So many of us, including ourselves until we heard you talk a few weeks ago, don't really understand what the job of lieutenant governor is. We feel like, we think it's a figurehead that's just there in case something happens to the governor, which is absolutely not true. So can you explain a little bit what the lieutenant governor's position is, and why you are so uniquely qualified for it?

Janelle: Right. So you've heard me say my experience matches the job, and so the way I normally structure my talk is to introduce the job, my background, and then how my background and the job really are the same thing, and I'm doing the work today, right? So I, I often explain, so most people probably assume lieutenant governor, yes, you are the governor if the governor is unavailable or out of the state.

Uh, you also preside over the state Senate. Those are sort of more legislative executive duties. But by statute, the lieutenant governor also now has specific substantive policy roles, and those are divided into three buckets. It's public higher education, climate and ocean health, and economic development.

And so on the public higher education, I would be the only statewide office serving on the governing body of all three levels of public higher education. I'd be a UC regent, I would be a trustee on the CSU, and I would be, uh, a board- on the board of governors of the community college system. And that got me really excited because that's, that's the future, right?

You wanna talk about wildfire mitigation, you wanna talk about renewable energy, you wanna be able to make big solutions at scale, look at our public higher education, especially community colleges, 'cause one out of every 16 jobs comes out of our community colleges, so it's the economic lifeblood of California.

And I would serve on the Ocean Protection Council, which is all the science behind our ocean policy. Uh, I would serve on the California Coastal Commission, all of the permitting of our waterfront, our navigable waterways, our tide lands. Um, most of Sausalito, I'm looking out on here, uh, our waterfront is held in trust for the people of California and governed by the state lands c- um, by the Coastal Commission of State Lands.

And then the last piece is the State Lands Commission. Sorry, Coastal is on the coast, um, but State Lands could be inland or, uh, on the coast. State Lands Commission, uh, is three people, oversees five million acres of surplus public lands, uh, and has a say in leases, like geothermal leases, can be the last line of defense, uh, against offshore oil and gas drilling, uh, ensures public access to our, our waterways, to our navigable waterways, um, our, our ports.

Many of our ports, our marinas, our harbors sit on state lands. And again, it's only three people. And then the last bit is I would chair the California Commission on Economic Development. So public higher education, climate and ocean health, and economic development, I can't-- I mean, those are three things, if we tie them together and we have somebody with my background who has worked across all of them, then we have an opportunity to do something really big for our economy and for our planet.

Passionistas: Yeah. I think a lot of the women in our community, um, as are people all around the world right now, are really struggling economically. And, um, and I'd love to hear what your plans are for, like, small business owners and, um, with the m- the, the kinda solo entrepreneurs in mind as you step into that role.

Janelle: Well, I am also a small business owner myself, so I do understand, you know, what it's like to buy a business license tax that seems, uh, way more expensive than it should be for your type of business. Or to pay taxes, uh, when your business is struggling. We saw this... I was the mayor, uh, right after COVID, and so we really saw how, um, the economic downturn hit small businesses.

And so I think that one of the, one of the most important things we can do is to make sure we're handling it at both the local level and the state level. At the local level, zoning changes can be important. The ability to have, um, you know, parklets or outside eating changed the trajectory for so many restaurants, and made the communities feel a little bit m- more like they were together.

Even though in that time of COVID we were really supposed to be apart, it really was a unifying. And so there's things at the zoning level, at the building level, that can, that can really help small businesses. And then at the state level, I think one of the most successful programs that this administration has, um, really put forward is the Jobs First blueprint, Jobs First program, which identified 13 different regions around California and said, "Okay, those regions have unique attributes.

How do we invest in small businesses in each of those regions?" And, you know, I've been traveling, uh, up and down the state, and I had the benefit of going to communities like Modesto and Stanislaus County. And Stanislaus County was not one of the 13 regions, but they modeled themselves after what Fresno had done.

And I learned some really important things. I said, "Well, what's the number one driver, one, number one sort of obstacle, I guess, uh, for small business in this community?" And you guys wanna guess? Number one obstacle for small business to grow? Childcare. Lack of childcare. Right? And so, uh, you know, so many of us women understand this, uh, but to have this being understood from an economic perspective.

So the very first thing that Stanislaus 2030, which is the name of their program, which is funded by their community foundation, very first thing they did was develop, um, a pipeline of caregivers. And a lot of those folks had English as a second language. They didn't know how to navigate the permitting.

They didn't know how to navigate the business license. And so having that type of local and regional knowledge to really be able to pinpoint what is keeping us from developing, I think is so important. And so we have to hit it from both levels. It's gotta be statewide, have that policy moving forward, that funding from the legislature and local, um, having people at the local level who understand how important it is as well.

Passionistas: One of the most fascinating things I thought you talked about the other day when we saw you was about climate change, but how it's not just an environmental issue, that it also impacts affordability and housing and public safety. So can you explain that, the connection between all that?

Janelle: Yes. I, I'd love to.

So somehow I'm the only person in the governor and lieutenant-governor's race who's talking about wildfires. I've not heard anybody talk about wildfires, and I think maybe part of the difference is that I'm not coming to this race from the Sacramento pipeline. I'm coming from a background of local government, land use, climate risk, small business, and actually getting these things done.

So I've had to deal with housing and permitting and in- infrastructure and insurance and wildfire and flood risk, not as talking points, but as real problems affecting real, everyday people. And so when I talk about my affordability agenda, what I wanna do is present the case for economic growth and cost of living, combined with public safety and climate risk as being part of the same issue.

And wildfires are the best example of this, because wildfires are really the hidden cost driver in California. They are driving up the cost of electricity, our taxes, our mortgage, our rents, even if your home will never burn And so we have to get ahead of this problem. And it's also preventing, uh, housing construction in many areas, particularly Southern California, because some proposed housing may sit in a wildland, uh, urban, uh, zone or might be subject to a high fire risk according to CAL FIRE.

And so we can't execute on our housing needs if we don't understand the fire risk. And so I really wanna invest in year-round wildfire prevention, because preventing a fire is gonna be a lot cheaper than cleaning up after, right? We see what happened in Pacific Palisades, we-- in, in Altadena, we know this is true.

Um, and we also can, uh, have an opportunity to protect ourselves proactively. So that means fuel reduction, fuel management, especially on our public lands and our park lands. It means making sure that all communities have access to resources and funding for home hardening, creating defensible space. And it also means, I think Lieutenant Governor could work closely with the insurance commissioner to make sure that we have the insurance companies, first of all, rewarding, uh, homeowners who invest in mitigation by getting a reduction in your premium, and having the insurance companies invest in year-round wildfire prevention so that they are part of the solution and not just part of the problem.

And so that's a great example of how climate and economic resilience go hand in hand. Um, electricity costs are, are another example. Part of my platform, I believe we can reduce electricity costs by at least 25%, and we do this because we have to change how we pay for wildfire safety. Right now, we are overpaying because it's part of the utility profit model.

So we have to take, uh, hardening, line hardening and utility undergrounding out of the utility profit model, finance it with low-cost public bonds, bid the work competitively, get a much better deal for the people of California, and we can reduce our rates by at least 14% right off the bat. And then through more innovative technologies and demand and peak pricing and pricing flexibility and making sure we have clear regulations around data centers, we can find the other percentages to bring us down

Passionistas: Yeah, I mean, this is what I love about you, and this is why I think Nancy and I were so drawn to you when we heard you speak is you, and you said this in, early in this conversation, you actually have come up with solutions.

You, you don't have a concept of a plan. You actually-

Janelle: Yeah. Who said that?

Passionistas: Yeah. Somebody said that.

Janelle: Concept of a plan.

Passionistas: You actually have really well thought out, really educated plans for how to tackle all of these issues that are really on the forefront of our minds. The fact that no one is talking about wildfires is mind-boggling to me, considering what everybody up and down this state continues to go through.

You know, we had another fire down here. You, when you were here the other day, you were saying there was a fire in Griffith Park that morning- Yep ... where you were hiking.

Janelle: Yep. It was a quarter acre, but took them about 33 minutes to put it out. They got it out, right? But- Yeah ... it could happen.

Passionistas: So the third part of the, y- as you said, would be education. So what are your plans for education in California?

Janelle: Yeah. So I, I've leaned heavily on the community college system as a huge opportunity for us. Uh, and that is because of the workforce of the future that community colleges are developing. So many of our frontline workers, our nurses, our EMTs, are coming out of our community colleges.

And my mom passed away actually the beginning of March, and when she was in the hospital, every, every doctor had a tech or a student behind them, and every one of those students had a community college logo on their, on their scrubs. Like, they are doing the work in real time, and we talk about healthcare shortages.

We can address that if we are creative and also strategic. And so I wanna make sure the community college is free for all Californians. And right now, uh, about 70% of first-time students will have their, uh, enrollment fees covered, so there's still a gap. I wanna close that gap and make it universal. But I also wanna lean in and make sure that we are providing other benefits.

Like, I know for a nursing student, they're gonna have to pay $1,200 at a minimum for books for a semester, and so they have to work. It's hard to get to the lab. It's hard to complete their coursework, right? Um, can we offset some of th- those additional costs in those areas where we know we need more workers, like healthcare, like wildfire mitigation specialists?

And so if we do that, that also means we have to make sure that our curriculum is what's called job-aligned curriculum, that we're focused on creating and training in those fields. Uh, and that might mean more apprenticeship programs, more vocational opportunities. Uh, not everybody wants to go to a four-year or even a full two-year.

There might be some other programs that, that we can align with. It also means bringing business back to California, because you can't expect young people to go through school and then not have a place to actually work. But if we can make community college free for all Californians, I mean, it is a, a massive change, 'cause free tuition means people train faster for higher-paying jobs without debt, and that raises wages.

It fills worker shortages, and it actually eases everyday cost pressure. So huge opportunity for us, and it's gonna take, you know, being creative about where we find the funding. And of course I have a plan, uh, where the funding and how we streamline, uh, existing programs and consolidate them to be more efficient.

Passionistas: Beautiful. So what, um... You've been up and down the entire state for months now campaigning. What have you seen that keeps you the most hopeful during this tur- tumultuous time we're in?

Janelle: Well, I, I started out with a, with a hypothesis that has been proven over and over again, which is that real change starts close to home.

And there is, and has been for me, a little disconnect between what happens on the ground in communities and what seems to happen in Sacramento. And y- you can't always integrate or implement a policy right away, because it doesn't always align, either with the community's goal or infrastructure or financial, uh, status.

And so I f- kind of see the lieutenant governor as sort of a translator between the two, an ombudsman, if you will, between what's happening in Sacramento and what happens on the ground. And so I have just been so honored in every community to meet people who are doing the work, uh, whether it is around, uh, schools, uh, any level of schools, uh, ser- serving on a school board or even on the PTA, whether it's folks who are working on climate, Surfrider or otherwise.

Um, you know, I've spent time along the Gaviota coastline, Matilija Dam, uh, of course up and down LA into the mountains there, up into Griffith Park in the observatory, right? There are people on the ground who are doing the work to clean up, to make sure the community stays safe, they stay vibrant, and they stay accessible.

In fact, last time I was in Griffith Park, we were, uh, running up to the observatory, and there was a community group that was collecting trash, right? Like, that matters. Pride of place matters. And so I think real change starts close to home, and I wanna try to empower as many local leaders as possible and let them know that they have a partner in Sacramento who believes in them.

Passionistas: Mm-hmm. So what have you learned about Californians on this campaign trail, and what have you learned about yourself?

Janelle: Californians are, are hopeful, and they're also, um, a little frustrated. And I think there's a feeling that we've had a super majority in Sacramento for years, which has created sort of an echo chamber.

Uh, but we... I, I think the fires have really, uh, made people feel so frustrated beyond belief that, that government isn't working for them, government isn't protecting them, and I can't think of a better example of that. And it's... It, it doesn't really matter if you're a red or a blue or a purple county, that is a universal language.

And so I, I truly believe that Californians want to see change. I, I do believe that. I don't know if everybody believes it's possible, but I, I think people are ready for it and very much open to it. Um, and I, you know, I have learned just how hard the practice of politics really is, and I'll go back to Brene Brown's definition of courage.

There are few things more vulnerable for all you, you know, creatives out there. Few things more vulnerable than getting on a stage and sharing your life's work, and you do not know how it will be received, but you are there with all the best intentions. And y- I think if you bring your authenticity, it's always right.

And so I have had the honor of being told just how authentic and real I am because, like, I'm not a Sacramento insider. I'm actually the only person... You know, I'm the only top Democrat in my race who is not a, a member of the Newsom administration as either an elected or an a- appointed person. But I am somebody with deep, deep experience across workforce development, climate, ocean health, and economic development

Passionistas: So what would success look like for you as lieutenant governor?

Janelle: Oh, I love this question. Someone asked me this the other day. Um, well, we'll start with the low-hanging fruit, which is, uh, no more mega fires. That would be a success. Um, free community college for all Californians, and a focus on the transfer portal. So the transfers are actually really effective. I think something like 29% of, uh, students who attend UC Berkeley actually came through the community college transfer portal, and it's slightly higher for the CSU system.

And so making sure that that opportunity to, to move up if somebody wants to, um, welcome to stay in the two-year college, uh, you know, that opportunity presents itself to everybody in a debt-free fashion. And then I think the opportunity also to solve some of the largest climate problems that we have. We have some very ambitious goals around decarbonization.

And, you know, to connect the dots again, the State Lands Commission, most of our ports sit on the State Lands

Commission. Our ports are under mandate to electrify all of their dry edge, which is their large trucks, uh, by 2035, and we have a big statewide goal by 2045. And so these are ways for the lieutenant governor to, to play a huge role.

And, you know, the state lands, I'll talk about it for a second. Uh, it's where California decides how we, how we use some of our most valuable public assets, and that means jobs, it means public access, it means, uh, climate resilience, port modernization, work- maritime workforce development, and that's the stuff that I have already been doing my entire career and I wanna do for California.

And so to see those systems in place around public higher education, wildfire mitigation that can address cost of living and create jobs and result in more housing, I think would be a huge success, and I think it's possible.

Passionistas: Yeah. So what's the question we're not asking you about your campaign, about the work that you wanna do?

Janelle: Well, I, I mean, you guys are very, uh, wonderful, uh, interviewers, right? So, um, maybe a little bit of like, you know, why me versus, you know, these other candidates, and how do I distinguish myself? And so a big part of it is that I'm not a Sacramento insider, but I, I just really can't say enough about bringing people into office who know how to do the job substantively so that on day one you can get started, because four years will fly by.

And if you can start working with a port, with a community college on day one, and you have a vision, and I already have a vision. So for example, through my nonprofit back in March, I pulled together 100 people at the Port of San Francisco. Uh, it was a maritime and blue economy workforce development session, and we brought together the ports with the community college chancellor's office, with philanthropy, with venture, with entrepreneurs to say, how do we create that, that blue-green ecosystem here in the Bay Area?

How do we navigate that through our ports and our community colleges? What does curriculum look like? What's the job pipeline? Who's gonna fund it? I mean, that is literally the work of the lieutenant governor, and I'm doing it today. And so maybe the other half of this question is ask yourself as you're looking to vote, d- uh, do the folks you're talking about really have a plan?

Are they being specific? Right? Are, are they waving their hands around and saying, "We need more, more housing"? I mean, I think we all agree we need more housing, but how? How will you do it? And what about your background makes you the person to connect the dots to make it happen?

Passionistas: So how can people find you, follow you, support you?

Janelle: Well, uh, welcome to come to janellekellman.com, and you can find more about me on the website. You can donate. Uh, also love to get new followers on Instagram, janellekellmanF-O-R-L-T-G, janellekellmanforltg. And, uh, if nothing else, you can actually just email me, janelle@janellekellman.com. I set aside time every week to actually reply to people because here's the truth.

This is my favorite part, right? My favorite part is the talking to the people, not doing the fundraising. So, uh, whenever I can get into a room full of folks, if, if folks like what they've heard and they have a group and you wanna do a Zoom, I'll get on with you. Let's talk, right? Uh, anything I can do to reach more voters and create name recognition and visibility.

Passionistas: So we usually have one last two-part question, but for you- Mm ... we're gonna make...

Janelle: Three parts?

Passionistas: A three-part question. So what is your dream for Californians? What is your dream for yourself? And what is your dream for women?

Janelle: Oh, God, I love this. So my dream for Californians is that everybody feels like the American dream, the California dream is accessible to them.

That everybody feels like they really can go to school if they want to, they can get a good-paying job, that there's a, a vision of opportunity, that they will have a place to live, they won't get priced out of the market, whether it's rent or, or buying a home, and that they can be with their families as they grow old, as they age, and they don't have to leave the state.

That is my dream, that the California Dream really gets reinvigorated, and we put our money where our mouth is, and we develop plans, and we hold, we hold our leaders accountable. Did we hit that metric? Did we- did the program result, uh, in the outcomes we said it would? And if it didn't, be ready to change it and be accountable. So that's my, I think my dream for California.

Uh, my dream for me is to continue to be able to do this work, this thought partnership in community with others. And if I'm not elected, I, I see myself maybe running some type of think tank that requires somebody who likes to do what I like to do, which is to connect the dots.

And so many times our big issue is like the educators are just doing education, and the folks at the port are just doing the port, and the climate people are doing... Right? I am someone who sees across the silos and connects the dots. And, like, an example is housing, is a great example, right? So many units aren't being built because of wildfires.

Well, the number one reason our community college, uh, enrollment is down is a lack of affordable housing in close proximity to those campuses, and that's an equity issue, it's a justice issue. So how do we connect the dots? You wanna increase enrollment? You wanna fill worker shortages? Build more housing.

Right? You may- It's kind of like the folks in Stanislaus who realized, "Let's get some childcare, uh, and then we can have more businesses."

Uh, and then my, my hope for women Is that we feel safe around the world, and that we no longer have to worry about predators like Eric Swalwell, uh, a- and others who abuse their power.

And as a, as a runner myself, you know, my female running friends and I have a, not... It's not a joke, but we sort of trade stories on it, how sometimes you'll run into a guy on a trail, and they'll say something like, "God, isn't it so great? It's only us out here alone." And we're like, "Uh, nope, we run faster." Uh, and, and men I think don't have to think about that.

Like, is it getting late? Is it dark? Should I be on this trail? How close is the next person? So my, my wish for women is that everybody feels safe.

Passionistas: Thanks for listening to The Passionistas Project. Everything we do is rooted in one belief: women's voices matter, and when we share our stories, we create real change.

That's why we launched our anthology book series, Awakening Your Power: Real Stories of Women's Empowerment, a collection of raw, inspiring stories from women who are ready to be seen, heard, and make an impact. And here's the best part: you don't have to be a writer to be a contributing author. Our interview process is how we bring it all to life.

We sit down with you, draw out your story in your authentic voice, and shape it into a powerful written chapter. No staring at a blank page, no pressure to get it right, just your truth told your way. When you join us, you're not just writing a chapter, you're stepping into a sisterhood built on storytelling, visibility, and support.

From our membership community to podcast features and other opportunities to share your voice, we're here to help you amplify your message in ways that feel aligned. If your story is ready to be told, we're ready to help you tell it. Head to thepassionistasproject.com to learn more, join the sisterhood, and apply to be part of Awakening Your Power.

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