Tech Leader Garry Tan to Launch California Voter Education Group to Promote Innovation Economy, Growth, Jobs, Affordability

Garry Tan’s ‘Garry’s List’ to Boost Discussion of Issues and Legislation Impacting the Golden State

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bay Area tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Garry Tan today announced the launch of a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to civic engagement, voter education and support for common-sense policies and candidates that can deliver growth, jobs, and affordability for all Californians. 

“I want to work to ensure Californians know the importance of investment and entrepreneurship to our state’s current and future economy,” said Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator.

“Garry’s List” will give California voters clear, practical information about how their policy choices and those of elected leaders affect prosperity and how they can make decisions that foster abundance, technological optimism, merit, and entrepreneurship for every Californian.

Tan said he started “Garry’s List,” a 501c4, “to give residents, workers, and voters the facts they need to make decisions with a full understanding of how state and local laws, ballot measures and policies will affect things people care about for all Californians.”

“Voters need to elect leaders with an understanding toward how their choices help or hurt the innovation economy. We know California voters are not all ideologues, and we’ve seen time and again that when they truly understand what’s at stake, they pick pragmatism over ideology,” Tan said. “We want to take the same education and engagement we used to turn around San Francisco and take it statewide–and deliver that same success for all of California.”

Garry’s List is a civic league for voter education with a singular goal: to make the connection between political decisions and outcomes impossible to ignore. The organization will produce educational content including voter guides, social media, video, long-form informational features, surveys, and academic research. This content will be distributed through digital channels, including a private social network, as well as through online and in-person community events. 

Garry’s List may also offer training and preparation for moderate/pragmatic candidates for public office.

“We are seeking to help the people of California build a political infrastructure for the next 20 years, one that can sustain the progress and prosperity that has always drawn the talented and the dreamers here,” Tan said. “We want to empower them to make the choices today that will deliver a vibrant California for generations to come.”

Californians who want to join and support the work of Garry’s List should visit Garryslist.org. The organization will sponsor special events, lectures, research, media, and host invitation-only occasions. 

The upcoming policy decisions and election cycles are particularly important, Tan said.

“California didn’t become the world’s innovation capital by accident. We built an ecosystem where ambitious people take risks, build companies, hire workers, and create the kinds of breakthroughs that improve lives—far beyond our state’s borders.

“That ecosystem is now under threat, and not because we lack talent or ideas. It’s because we’re increasingly comfortable treating the people who create jobs and fund new companies as an ATM for every fiscal problem, real or imagined, pointing to two ballot measures, on statewide, and another in San Francisco, that he says will harm technology, business growth, and the future of the state,” he added

Tan said his organization will work to educate voters on numerous issues, including local and state proposals, “because California should be focused on keeping entrepreneurs and investors here—creating jobs, growing the economy, and funding our future. Driving entrepreneurs, capital, and investors, out of the state will hurt innovation and ultimately make it harder–not easier–to support healthcare, police, public works, public safety, education, and essential services.”

Contact
Sam Singer
Singer Associates Public Relations San Francisco
[e-mail]
cell: 415.336.4949

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SOURCE Garry Tan