Our March 10, 2026 meeting featured Dr. Russell Hancock, President and Chief Executive Officer of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a position he has held since 2003. Widely recognized as a civic leader and advocate for regional cooperation, Dr. Hancock has played a central role in shaping Silicon Valley’s approach to economic growth, public policy, and collaborative problem-solving.
Under his leadership, Joint Venture Silicon Valley has grown ten-fold and become the region’s primary clearinghouse for data-driven analysis and cross-sector collaboration. He founded the Institute for Regional Studies and the annual State of the Valley conference, which draws more than 1,500 leaders and features the influential Silicon Valley Index, now followed nationally and internationally.
Before joining Joint Venture, Dr. Hancock served as Vice President of the Bay Area Council, where he helped lead efforts to extend BART to San Francisco International Airport and to establish the Bay Area Water Transit Authority. Educated at Harvard and Stanford, he holds a Ph.D. in political science and currently teaches public policy at Stanford University. He also served as the inaugural director of Stanford’s Shorenstein Forum for Asia-Pacific Studies.
Dr. Hancock’s work has taken him around the world advising regional governments, and his insights regularly appear in major national and international media. Beyond public life, he is an accomplished concert pianist and founding member of The Saint Michael Trio, artists in residence at Montalvo Arts Center. He lives in Palo Alto with his wife, Marguerite, and is the father of three grown children.
The above article was produced by ChatGPT using information from the Joint Venture Silicon Valley website.