WASHINGTON ― Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may be leaving Congress this year, but the 86-year-old decades-long representative of San Francisco is simply entering the next chapter of her career: launching a nonpartisan democracy institute at UC Berkeley.
Opening in January, the Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy will be a “new epicenter for research, teaching, and civic engagement,” according to press materials shared with HuffPost. It will invest in faculty research projects, new undergraduate courses on leadership, a visiting fellows program, support for student summer experiences, and an annual nonpartisan forum for global thought leaders.
It will serve hundreds of students every year, and some will even have Pelosi as a teacher as she co-leads a course on Congress with UC Berkeley professor Eric Schickler.
“The work of democracy is never finished, and securing its future is our greatest calling,” Pelosi said in a statement. “I am honored to partner with this exceptional community of scholars and students so we can equip the next generation with the tools they need to strengthen our democratic institutions and forge a future that serves the public good.”
The California progressive announced last November she wouldn’t be seeking reelection, capping off her legacy as one of the Democratic Party’s most powerful and effective leaders. State Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, who has Pelosi’s backing, will face each other in November in their bids to represent this heavily Democratic district.
First coming to Congress in 1987, Pelosi rose through the ranks of her party to make history, again and again. Most notably, she was the first woman elected House speaker in 2007, and again in 2019. She led her party’s opposition to President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq, ushered through President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law and served as President Donald Trump’s most formidable adversary, routinely calling him out for his lies and throwing up barriers to his many efforts that Democrats fought.
The Nancy Pelosi Institute is funded by more than $32 million in philanthropic commitments, most of which is earmarked for a permanent endowment. According to press materials, it will invest in research on how to address climate change and wealth inequality, which electoral reforms could reduce polarization, how to reform the criminal justice system to produce more just communities, and how artificial intelligence can enable instead of undermine democracy.
In the spring, UC Berkeley’s library will also host a public exhibit about Pelosi’s life and career.
Ultimately, the Nancy Pelosi Institute is trying to raise $50 million for its Berkeley programs and to create another center for the U.S. House of Representatives by the end of 2027.
“The purpose and impact of the NPI will be defined and strengthened by Berkeley’s ability to bring together world-class faculty and extraordinary students, and by our commitment, as the country’s preeminent public university, to advancing the greater good,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said in a statement. “We intend to do more than simply study democracy; we are building this institute to strengthen it.”