Those of us who worked on the California Community and Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) often share a reflection that isn’t always discussed publicly:

The program reflected a moment when the State had too many priorities. And, as the saying goes: when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

Coming out of COVID, staff in Governor Newsom’s Office (myself included) were juggling economic recovery, just transition, equity, climate adaptation, workforce alignment, and political pressure from every direction.

CERF tried to carry all of it at once. On paper it looked ambitious; in practice, it was ambiguous. Everyone saw what they wanted, and no one agreed on what the program actually was.

Regions felt that immediately. They asked questions we couldn’t answer cleanly: Is this workforce? Climate? Economic development? Community development? All of the above?

With too many goals and no action to narrow them, CERF got 13 different definitions from 13 different regions.

Jobs First marks the moment the Governor’s Office accepted what the field already understood:

You can’t run a statewide initiative while trying to satisfy every priority at the same time.

Something had to give. so the State made real tradeoffs. It prioritized quality jobs. It prioritized rural regions.

Not everyone was happy. But for the first time, regions understood what the program was asking of them, because the program finally understood what it was asking of itself.

Jobs First signals more than a program change. It shows the Governor's Office learning to focus. Moving from trying to solve everything simultaneously to naming clear priorities.

Do I agree with every tradeoff we made? Not necessarily. But programs that try to make everyone happy end up moving no one.

In California policy circles, this shift is significant. It signals a growing understanding that designing for impact (not aspiration) requires something we often avoid:

Impact requires tradeoffs.

🟦 ONE BIG IDEA

Impact requires tradeoffs. California’s shift from CERF to Jobs First shows that programs only become effective when leaders choose what matters most instead of trying to satisfy every priority at once.

🟩 ONE PRACTICAL INSIGHT

If your program has more than three priorities, it has no priorities. Narrowing your goals doesn’t weaken your vision—it strengthens your ability to act and communicate clearly.

🟨 ONE QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Where in your current work are you avoiding a tradeoff. How is that avoidance slowing down real progress?

🟧 ONE ACTION YOU CAN TAKE THIS WEEK

Pick one initiative you’re leading and define the single outcome that matters most in the next six months. Share it with your team or partners. Notice how quickly confusion turns into alignment.

Missed the last week story? I recreated this video based on one of my recent talks and provides a simple framework for designing impactful programs. It reflects on the following three case studies:

• SB 375 Program at the California Air Resources Board (CARB)

• Homeless Data Integration System, run by the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (CalICH)

• California Jobs First, run by the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the Governor’s Office

I know this story is more critical than the previous ones. My hope is that this transparency helps raise awareness and unpack the secret sauce behind creating real community impact.

Looking for ways to measure your community impact?

Nader Afzalan, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO, The Triangle

Program Director, Sustainable Environmental Design, UC Berkeley