In it’s state constitution, California defines a unique institution for each county called the Civil Grand Jury, which is tasked with overseeing the effectiveness and efficiency of the county’s governance.
I volunteered to be on San Francisco’s Civil Grand Jury for the 2017-18 term, and began working with the Jury in September of 2017. Though all jury proceedings operate under confidentiality, I can say that I have chaired up an investigative committee, and was one of the authors of one of the grand jury reports published in July of 2018.
You can find these reports here.
I learned so much from this experience: managing a team of folks with wildly different skillsets and focuses, doing meticulously detailed researching and interviewing, and having a large number of tasks to juggle at every moment.