Ron Dellums

Ron Dellums is a political icon. The former “hippie peacenik from Berkeley”, Dellums has had a four-decade career as a leading progressive politician and social worker for the nation. He has used his positions in office to bring parties together, to remove obstacles, to break down bureaucracies, and to get things done. Currently the mayor of the City of Oakland,CA,  Dellums spent 28 years representing Oakland, Berkeley, and surrounding areas in the US House of Representatives.

He is passionate about problem solving and collaboration, engaging young people to fight the common threats of global warming, global terrorism, and the global economic crisis. Dellums shares his vision of an interrelated, interdependent community that uses heart, courage, and commitment to make a difference. Weaving a tapestry of his lifetime of experience, Ron Dellums inspires audiences with his personal story and lessons learned about leadership, politics, and the power of collaborative partnerships to affect change. 

28 Years in Washington. An Oakland native with a degree in social work, Dellums was elected to the House in 1970. Initially elected in opposition to the Vietnam War, he became a recognized expert in military and foreign policy, he rose to become chair of the House Armed Services Committee. On the Armed Services Committee, Dellums used his leadership positions to question US policy and brought about the first real strategic debates on military policy in the post-Cold War world. He was also a leader in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa. It was the Dellums bill that passed the House and made divestment US national policy, helping the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa to win the release of Nelson Mandela and his election as president of a democratic South Africa. Ron was a leader on the environment, labor, consumer issues, and civil rights and was continually acknowledged by the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation voters, the AFL-CIO, the National Organization of Women, Public Citizen, among many others, as having a perfect voting record.

Since leaving Congress, Dellums has been president of an international management company and a leading spokesman on the tragedy of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and throughout the world. He was chair of President Clinton's Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS. He is the author of several books, including a recent autobiography Lying Down With the Lions: A Public Life from the Streets of Oakland to the Halls of Power as well as Defense Sense: The Search for a Rational Military Policy.

Run, Ron, Run. Dellums became mayor of Oakland in 2006. By embracing the message of “thinking globally, acting locally”, Dellums has sought to make Oakland a model urban city through the formulation of policies, delivery of city services, communication and outreach to citizens and the greater community.