Meet Libby

As a former Big City Mayor, Libby knows what it takes to manage a massive public budget with responsibility, transparency, and accountability.

Libby is running for California Treasurer to take those values statewide and manage California’s investments to improve public infrastructure, tackle our housing crisis, advance educational opportunity, and meet our climate goals.

Libby served as Mayor of her hometown Oakland, from 2015-2023. During Libby’s tenure as Mayor, Oakland underwent an economic revitalization, saw its lowest 5-year period of gun violence on record, and became a national leader in the effort to lift children out of poverty. Fiscal responsibility was central to Libby’s administration, and she is proud to have created Oakland’s first Rainy Day Fund and achieved the city’s highest credit rating on record.

Libby is a courageous leader. She stood up for immigrant families across California — and the nation — when she fought the Trump Administration for attacking California and our values. In 2018 she was named by Politico as one of the most influential voices in American politics.

Public Finance, Housing & Infrastructure

Libby knows how to harness the power of public finance to improve your quality of life. She created Oakland’s first renewable bond program, which doubled affordable housing, fixed  pothole-riddled roads, advanced Oakland’s climate goals, and improved libraries and parks. 

The program helped Libby exceed the ambitious goals of her “17k/17k” Housing Plan by creating more than 17k new homes — Oakland’s largest building boom this century — doubling affordable housing, and protecting more than 17k low-income tenants from displacement. It also helped Oakland end wasteful contracting-out for road repairs and break all-time records (twice!) for most miles of roads repaved.

Libby helped create the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority, the first of its kind in California, and was first to be appointed Chair of its Oversight Committee. Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Libby to California’s first Council of Regional Homeless Advisors, and she Co-Chaired the national organization Mayors & CEOs for US Housing. She received the Bay Area Housing Hero Award in 2020. 

Libby currently serves as HUD’s appointee to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Bay Area Housing Finance Authority. In 2023 she taught Public Budgeting & Finance for Policymakers at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Policy.

Leadership on Climate, Education & Equity

Libby is a climate leader. She was featured extensively as a Local Climate Leader at the COP21 Climate Accords in Paris and COP27 in Egypt, and at the United Nations’ Habitat III in Quito, which created the International Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She currently serves on the California Green Bond Market Development Committee and Climate Migration Council. As mayor, she fought coal shipments from Oakland and oversaw the 2030 Oakland Equitable Climate Action Plan.

Libby created a nationally recognized cradle-to-career college savings program, The Oakland Promise. She raised a $50 million investment fund and led a $1 billion voter-approved revenue measure that will ensure the next generation of Oakland’s children will have affordable pre-school, college savings accounts, scholarships, and persistence support to get them to and through a college degree or trade certificate, prepared for a living-wage career. Her leadership was recognized by the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a Senior Fellowship in 2023.

Libby is a champion for equity and opportunity. She oversaw the creation of Oakland’s first Department of Race & Equity, which infused racial equity into everything from road repairs, to cannabis permits, to the Budget. Libby is a founding member and Senior Fellow at Mayors for a Guaranteed Income to close the racial wealth gap. After launching Kiva Oakland, she served on the national advisory board of Kiva US, an innovative micro financing platform for small businesses. In 2023, Libby became Interim Executive Director of Emerge California, which seeks to change the face of power by recruiting and training Democratic women to run for office. 

Prior to serving as Mayor, Libby served as an Oakland City Councilmember, Senior Economic Development Policy Advisor to the City Council, Director of Public Affairs at the Port of Oakland, and Special Assistant to Mayor Jerry Brown. She holds a B.A. from Rollins College and a J.D. from Loyola Law School. 

Libby lives in Oakland with her husband Sal, and their two children.