Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Jim Wunderman

43. Jim Wunderman

Wunderman is the President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a policy and advocacy organization that reps about 330 major businesses in the region. As such he is naturally a force in Bay Area business and politics. But Wunderman is so much more, and everything he does is hellbent on ensuring that Bay Area interests are felt throughout the Golden State. Under Wunderman’s leadership, BAC has been involved in countless ballot measure campaigns that have secured tens of billions of dollars for affordable housing, climate resilience, early education, healthcare and transportation. Until recently, BAC was in discussions to merge with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which the orgs touted would form the nation’s most influential business group, but those talks ended in mid-June. Who knows what a merger would have meant, but we absolutely do know that Wunderman was a key player in the negotiations this year that led to the first major CEQA reform in half a century. Money, expertise, and the ability to bring a lot of groups together – it’s all what makes Wunderman a power player in the Bay and beyond.

Updated Aug. 26, 2025