California Public Banking Alliance

Alica Forneret (she/her)

“We’re building financial infrastructure that finally serves the people. Cities shouldn’t have to fight for scraps while handing billions to big banks. A public bank gives us the power to recirculate that wealth, fund affordable housing, support small businesses, and expand banking access for people who’ve been shut out. It’s about reclaiming what’s ours.”

Trinity Tran is Executive Director and co-founder of Public Bank LA and the California Public Banking Alliance, working to transform public finance to serve people over profit. Her work shifts public funds away from Wall Street and into communities long shut out of opportunity. She led the Divest LA campaign, which laid the groundwork for Measure B and the historic California Public Banking Act, making California the first state to authorize local public banks. Regulations were finalized in 2022.

From 2020 to 2024, she ran an emergency food bank that distributed 270,000 grocery boxes to immigrant and low-income families during the COVID-19 crisis. Her work was recognized in the U.S. Congressional Record. She also co-led the passage of CalAccount and worked with coalition partners to secure funding in the 2025 state budget to implement a first-in-the-nation zero-fee public banking option for over 7 million unbanked Californians.

Trinity’s work is grounded in one truth: public money should serve the public.