Michael Bernick is the former director of the California’s labor department, the Employment Development Department, and currently is Counsel with the law firm of Duane Morris LLP in San Francisco, Research Director with the California Workforce Association, and Adjunct Faculty at Stanford University. He is a graduate of Harvard College (BA), Oxford University (Balliol College, B. Phil), and the University of California Berkeley School of Law. For the past 42 years, Bernick has been involved in developing and implementing workforce programs on the local level in California, and continues be involved today throughout the state. He is the author of six books, including The Autism Full Employment Act (2021), and writes regularly on employment issues for Forbes.