Sunne McPeak - Participant

Sunne Wright McPeak is the President and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to closing the Digital Divide by accelerating the deployment and adoption of broadband technology. Under McPeak’s leadership, CETF has been a catalyst to engage and mobilize government, business and community partners to establish trailblazing initiatives, including the California Telehealth Network and School2Home to close the Achievement Gap as well as the Digital Divide.

Prior to CETF, McPeak served as Secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency where she oversaw 13 Departments, including Caltrans, DMV, CHP, Housing, several business regulatory departments, and programs for tourism, film, trade and small business. She was responsible for more than 42,000 employees and a budget in excess of $11 billion. Under McPeak’s leadership, performance in all departments improved significantly —cutting average wait times at the DMV from over an hour to 21 minutes, reducing by two-thirds the time to issue real estate licenses, and generating more than $180 million in savings. She also provided key policy leadership in support of the Governor and Legislature to launch major investments in infrastructure and to foster groundbreaking regional “smart growth” planning.

Before being recruited to the Governor’s Cabinet, McPeak served as President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a major employer-led policy organization promoting regional economic prosperity, and the Bay Area Economic Forum. She served for more than 15 years as an elected member of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and was President of the California State Association of Counties in 1983. She also served on the Boards of Directors of two publicly-traded corporations for 20 years.

Sunne grew up on a dairy farm in the San Joaquin Valley. Her first name is the Norwegian family name. She earned a B.A. in an Individual Major from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been awarded two honorary doctorates. Sunne and John McPeak have been married for 49 years and have two adult sons, a daughter-in-law and four grandsons.