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While many people might view a major in Accounting and a minor in Political Science as an unusual combination, it made perfect sense for Leavey Alumni Garrett Jensen. From Jensen’s perspective, governments create the rules that allow businesses to thrive, shrink, or even be eliminated. For example, the State of California’s goal-setting process, a political approach guided by business principles, created an explosion in the electric vehicle market. 
Jensen most recently served as a Legislative Director in the California State Assembly, where he’s passionate about the impact of local government and getting more people “plugged into” local policy. He says, “When I talk to students, I tell them your state elected officials are far more influential than federal.” As evidence, he shows that the state of California reviews over 3,000 bills and passes over 900 every two-year term. And many of these bills have a direct impact on individuals and businesses.

Jensen explains that a significant priority for the state is creating a marketplace. “We are in a world of anti-trust and big business – big tech, big oil, and big auto have fixed the game. We want to create a marketplace that allows entrepreneurs and workers to have the freedom and ability to start the next big thing, but current conditions limit this.” In many places, non-compete agreements have limited innovation. However, non-competes have been unenforceable in California, and many people attribute the creation of Silicon Valley to exactly that.

Beyond creating marketplaces, the State government will have a huge impact on defining guardrails for AI and new technologies that will directly impact individual lives, small businesses, and large corporations with laws ranging from privacy to copyright to image and likeness.

Outside of business and tech, Jensen thrives on the variety of issues the state legislature tackles and the complex stakeholder environment. “One day I’m working on French driver's license reciprocity and the next firearms or retail theft.”

Policy Work Driven by Values

Much of Jensen’s passion for his work was inspired by his Jesuit values and his time at Santa Clara University. In 2011, Dean Starbird and Professor of Practice Jackie Schmidt-Posner pushed Leavey students to get engaged with the downtown San Jose community, specifically the Washington neighborhood, a community largely composed of minority immigrants. Jensen recalls, “Getting business students to partner with business owners in the Washington neighborhood and support the growth of mom-and-pop businesses is truly transformative.”

But it wasn’t necessarily easy. Immigrant business owners hesitated to trust Leavey students, so Jensen’s team started at the Washington Elementary School, where the principal was a Santa Clara graduate. They met moms and kept showing up and making long-term commitments to the community. Jensen said the experience was amazing and showed him how business and policy can interact.

Saying Yes Leads to an Adventurous Career

While Jensen went to work for a Big 4 accounting firm immediately after graduation, his desire to find purpose drove him to volunteer for Ernst & Young’s (EY) Corporate Social Responsibility team. They partnered with a non-profit high school mentoring program that Jensen ultimately ran. Seeing the vast disparity across schools, Jensen returned to school to earn a Master of Education and Public Policy degree. During the program, he had the opportunity to research state prison re-entry programs and the service-earning approach in high schools.

While working at a service learning center, he met Josh Becker, a candidate for California State Senate, who invited Jensen to knock on doors with him for his campaign. Jensen says, “What brings me joy and excitement and has led to an adventurous career so far is saying ‘Yes!’ to cool things.” So, he knocked on doors with Becker, continued working on his campaign, and ultimately became the new state senator’s first staffer. And he’s continued his work in state policy ever since.

Getting Involved Now

Jensen loves returning to Santa Clara’s campus and talking to students because “you immediately feel the energy when you walk on campus.” He always encourages younger students to get involved, discover who their mayor and city council members are, and contribute to the community.

He summarizes his career and advice to others as follows: “I learn every day in this job. The work is challenging but fulfilling. There’s purpose, and I make a difference. Don’t wait until you are rich and old to do good in the community.”