Hi, I’m Lexi Reese. It’s nice to meet you.

 

Let me share a little about me. I’m a proud Californian. A working mom. An optimist. What I’m not? A career politician. But I can’t sit by and do nothing while this state and the people who live here are left high and dry in an increasingly unlivable economy.

 

I want better for California families. So many people in this state are stretched too thin, working harder than ever yet still struggling to get by. It’s exhausting. And I understand what that kind of financial insecurity can do to a family. When I was a kid, my dad lost his job of 21 years and it threw my family into chaos. My mom re-joined the workforce with no college education, traveling across state lines to provide for her family. Eventually, my parents divorced. My siblings struggled with addiction. The financial stress had a lasting impact on all of us.

 

 

Since then, I’ve devoted my life to helping others thrive — creating thousands of jobs, empowering small business owners, and reimagining a world of work that better supports families, businesses, and the economy.

 

I started my career in film, working on a documentary about young girls who were forced to sell their bodies to help feed their families. I continued in public policy, working at a nonprofit and successfully helped get hundreds of millions in small loans for entrepreneurs, especially Latina women, to start their own businesses. After that, I went on to Harvard Business School where I focused on how the public, private and nonprofit sectors can come together to end economic inequality. I’ve spent most of my career since then enabling access to high-quality jobs for people and business owners who are often under-looked or under-valued.

 

My leadership philosophy is centered around empowering others. I launched the Make Mine a Million program at American Express to provide loans, coaching, and networking to women and minority small business owners. At Google, I helped mom and pop businesses compete with big chains and helped writers and other content creators get fairly paid for their work. And as Chief Operating Officer of Gusto, I helped grow the customer base from 10,000 to 200,000 small and medium sized businesses, giving them the tools to easily pay and insure more than 1 million workers. While I was there, I fought for small businesses to access more than $2.5 billion in federal loans during the pandemic when big banks were blocking them out.

 

 

I’ve built coalitions across the public and private sector to create shared prosperity and growth for families and businesses. With a deep understanding of the American workforce, labor markets, and income inequality, I’m laser focused on creating a more inclusive, sustainable, and just economy for all.

 

I want better for the people of California. And I’m ready to put in the work to make California livable again. As your Senator, I’m going to unlock opportunities, get results from our government, and truly protect women and families. But we’re going to have to work together. I hope you’ll join me on the journey.