Over the years, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has hosted top donors. Members of Congress and other political bigwigs at a gorgeous resort in California’s Napa Valley for a two-day issues conference.
This year, Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley and is a front-runner technical soundproduction etc economic issuesfollowing in the footsteps of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On Thursday, Khanna will kick off the Innovation Leadership Circle Retreat, a two-day gathering in Napa Valley that will feature a keynote address by Pelosi herself, as well as talks from Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and a former White House chief of staff. Ron Klain, according to a copy of the schedule obtained by NBC News.
Khanna said this year’s retreat in the Yountville resort will have more of a tech focus as Democrats try to remain “the party of the future” and prevent tech leaders from slipping to former President Donald Trump and other candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Khanna said in a phone interview while preparing for the meeting that he wants to ensure that “the Democratic Party can be the party of the future, the party of innovation, the party of entrepreneurship.” “I want to make sure we’re seen as leading the economy, helping to create intergenerational wealth.”
Khanna’s team is expected to include a hundred tech leaders, including billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. Max Shireson and Deirdre Lyellformer Facebook executive Paul Gwal and former PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman.
According to the schedule, the retreat begins with a welcome party and dinner featuring Kerr, a nine-time NBA champion as a player and coach. He is a personal friend of both Hanna and Pelosi and has used his public platform to call for tougher gun measures.
House Speaker Pelosi, who stepped down as top leader after Democrats lost their majority in the 2022 midterm elections, will address a breakfast meeting on Saturday. The dinner will feature economic policy discussions between Khanna and Klein, President Joe Biden’s first White House chief of staff.
The retreat will conclude with a cocktail reception featuring three of Khanna’s House Democratic colleagues: Nanette Barragan of California, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, who focused on civil rights and helping black men; and Sara Jacobs of California, the granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, whom Khanna called “the next generation of leaders in our party.”
A pair of wealthy venture capitalists—David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya— He is hosting a fundraiser for Trump day later in one of San Francisco’s most beautiful neighborhoods. The fundraiser, with tickets ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 per person, will be held at Pacific Heights, where Pelosi’s neighborhood calls home.
“I don’t agree at all with their support for Donald Trump, but they also held events for Robert Kennedy, they supported Vivek Ramaswamy. They supported more unconventional and partly oppositional candidates. There’s always been a libertarian bias in Silicon Valley, but not the vast majority of tech leaders,” Khanna said, adding that tech leaders understand the importance of government investment. CHIPS and the Science Act.
“I’d say 90% of prominent Silicon Valley leaders right now still support the Democratic Party,” Khanna continued, “but we’ve got work to do to make sure we don’t lose the support of some of them. Entrepreneurs and Innovators in America.”
Although many of the guests are Democratic donors, the retreat is not a fundraiser, Khanna said. His campaign will pay for food and drinks; tech leaders and other attendees will pay for their own accommodations. Khanna said he plans to move the retreat south to Silicon Valley next year.
Like Pelosi, Khanna is a member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board and an active campaign surrogate.
He held a forum on artificial intelligence with academics and other thought leaders on Capitol Hill in February. He also traveled extensively throughout the Midwest and Rust Belt, calling for a revival of American manufacturing; he said he would introduce a modern steel bill in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in July.
In September, Khanna plans to team up with Jennifer Clyburn, daughter of South Carolina Democratic power broker James Clyburn, to host a job creation summit with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia and 40 historically black colleges and universities. and scholarships for young Black students and graduates.
Khanna, 47, has shown signs of laying the groundwork for a presidential bid. Asked if he would run for higher office in 2028, he said he was focused on making sure Biden wins re-election in November.
“I want to be part of the next national conversation about the economy and make sure the Democratic Party is seen as the party for wealth creation, innovation, entrepreneurship and reindustrialization. And this is my biggest theme; this is my biggest passion,” he said. “This is what I have done in Congress for eight years and I will continue to do it. I am excited for the next generation of leadership.”