President & Chief Executive Officer

Jim Wunderman serves as the president and chief executive officer of the Bay Area Council, a business-backed public policy organization in the Silicon Valley-San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area.  Led by CEOs, the Bay Area Council is the strong, united voice of more than 275 of the largest Bay Area employers, representing more than 500,000 workers, or 1 of every six private sector employees.  Since becoming CEO in April of 2004, Wunderman has led the 60-year-old public-policy organization to tighten its focus, significantly increase its advocacy work, and expand its efforts globally, starting with China.

Prior to the Bay Area Council, Wunderman spent about half of his career in the private sector and the other half in the public sector.

From 1997-2004, Wunderman was Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Providian Financial Corporation, where he managed government relations, community affairs and oversaw the company’s philanthropy program – including the development of a nationally recognized effort to promote quality childcare.  Before joining Providian, Wunderman operated his own consulting company, The Wunderman Group, providing public affairs, political campaigning and marketing strategies.

From 1992 through 1995, Wunderman served as Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff to San Francisco Mayor Frank M. Jordan.  He oversaw the operations of all city departments and was responsible for annually balancing San Francisco’s $3 billion budget during a particularly challenging economic period.

From 1988 through 1991, Wunderman was General Manager for a Norcal Waste Systems’ subsidiary that served a 200-square-mile area in Silicon Valley, as well as the General Manager for Golden Gate Disposal Company in San Francisco.  He instituted several recycling programs that were ahead of their time.

From 1984 to 1988, Wunderman worked in San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein’s administration in a variety of roles, including serving as the liaison to the Board of Supervisors and as a budget and policy analyst overseeing the city’s infrastructure, such as Hetch Hetchy.  He also played a key role preparing the city for the 1984 Democratic National Convention.

Under Jim Wunderman’s leadership, the Bay Area Council:

1. Preserved the Bay Area’s leadership in the state legislature (helping Senator Perata in his election as the President pro Tempore or leader of the state senate).
2. Secured an extra $1 billion for traffic relief through lobbying, media and grassroots efforts.
3. Positioned the Bay Area to succeed in the coming “Century of the Pacific” by signing the first ever region-to-region economic development agreement – signing it with the Yangtze-Shanghai region of China.  The agreement is backed by a Bay Area Council-sponsored $200 million venture capital fund.
4. Fought, successfully, to locate the new Stem Cell Institute in the Bay Area.
5. Brought together the “Big 5” (the Legislative Leaders and the Governor) at a conference where they finally announced parameters to four infrastructure bond measures totaling $36 billion that successfully passed the legislature three weeks later, and the state ballot seven months later, capping a two-year intense advocacy campaign.
6. Raised more than $175 million of private equity to invest in economically-challenged Bay Area neighborhoods. 
7. Co-chaired successful BART seismic safety campaign that raised $1 billion.
8. Stepped forward as the first major business group in California to support the Global Warming Solutions Act, and secured key amendments which ensured that businesses will be financially rewarded for reducing their emissions.
9. Led a successful public opinion campaign to resolve a potential BART strike without fare hikes or service cuts, meanwhile erasing a 4-year $100 million deficit and put the system in a much stronger position for future expansion.
10. Created the first new public transportation agency of the 21st century, a unified and vastly expanded ferry service to relieve day-to-day traffic congestion and help the region recover after a disaster. 
11. Secured $48 million for the Port of Oakland “50 Foot Dredge Project” from Congress to enable the next generation of container ships to reach the Bay Area.
12. Secured Public Utilities Commission approval for the “Million Solar Roofs” initiative.

In addition to his work at the Bay Area Council, Wunderman serves on the boards of the Bay Center, the California Center for Regional Leadership, California Pacific Medical Center, the Community Advisory Board for KB Home, and the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.   He is a member of Lambda Alpha International.

Wunderman was previously the Treasurer of the California Childcare Resource Referral Network, the Chairman of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and co-chaired the Public Affairs Roundtable of the Bay Area Council.

He graduated with honors from San Francisco State University, majoring in Political Science.  In 2003, he was inducted into San Francisco State’s Alumni Hall of Fame.  He also holds an Associate of Applied Sciences Degree (summa cum laude) from Kingsborough College of the City University of New York, where he majored in Business Administration.

While Wunderman has lived and worked throughout the region, he currently resides in Contra Costa County with his wife Heather.  He has four children.