Governmental Relations’ Meyers is a familiar face
Published: February 27, 2012
Dennis Meyers hit the ground running when he joined CSBA staff this year. From the moment Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal was released, through CSBA’s annual Forecast Webcast, to the recent success with home-to-school transportation, Meyers wasted no time being seen and heard in media outlets throughout the state and raising the association’s profile in important negotiations.
As assistant executive director for governmental relations, Meyers is a key member of CSBA’s political and legislative strategic team. In addition, he heads the team of legislative advocates who communicate CSBA’s policies and positions in the legislative and regulatory arenas.
The Governmental Relations Department analyzes proposed legislation affecting K-12 public education and represents the interests of CSBA’s members to the Legislature, governor, Congress, White House and state and federal regulatory agencies.
Meyers comes to CSBA from the California Association of School Business Officials, where he served as assistant executive director for advocacy and policy. Before that, he was president of his own mortgage company. From 1998 to 2004, he was a legislative advocate and then assistant executive director of government and media relations at the Association of California School Administrators, where he directed the association’s political, policy and media relations activities.
But in coming to CSBA, Meyers is returning to familiar territory. His career in education began when he was just 21, when he began five years’ service as a school board member in the Washington Unified School District in West Sacramento. During that time, Meyers was elected to a term as board president, president of the Yolo County School Boards Association, and as a member of CSBA’s Delegate Assembly. He left school board service in the late 1980s to become a legislative advocate at CSBA.
“It’s great to be back at CSBA,” Meyers said. “Governing boards need to be heard in Sacramento and in Washington, and being a part of that happening in more effective ways is truly exciting.”
Meyers is a graduate of California State University, Sacramento, with a degree in economics and government, and he holds the certified association executive designation granted by the American Society of Association Executives. He is a licensed real estate broker as well as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician. He is married and has a young adult daughter who lives in Southern California.