California’s most pressing public policy issues require solutions that engage the State’s extraordinary research and innovation enterprise. CCST is a nonpartisan nonprofit created via the California Legislature in 1988 to provide objective advice from California’s leading scientists and research institutions on policy issues involving science and technology (S&T).
Despite California’s rich intellectual capital and long tradition of crafting future-facing policies, structural barriers prevent its policymakers from readily accessing the S&T expertise in research institutions resident in the state. CCST works with a range of government, research, and philanthropic partners to build more agile, inclusive, and impactful S&T advisory frameworks; elevate policymaker awareness of the S&T contributions of California’s research institutions; and foster a more diverse and inclusive network of S&T-savvy policy leaders.
For more information, please visit https://ccst.us/.
Core Values
The pillars of our organizational identity, our core values of service, independence, and partnership are anchored in our foundational commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Service: We are driven by a desire to serve and see S&T applied to public policies that provide all Californians with opportunities to participate and prosper. We connect our diverse network of S&T experts with policymakers to help them fulfill their missions.
Independence: As a nongovernmental, nonpartisan institution, we operate independently of organizations and individuals with a stake in the outcome of State policy decisions. We engage inclusively with S&T experts from a broad range of disciplines and lived experiences, serving as honest brokers of their knowledge and perspectives.
Partnership: We work across institutions, partnering with academic, research, governmental, philanthropic, and other communities to leverage their collective expertise and diverse perspectives to fulfill our mission.
