Michael
Tubbs
Founder, Tubbs Ventures
In 2016, Michael Tubbs became the youngest mayor of a major U.S. city when—at just 26— he took the helm of Stockton, CA. Tubbs, who was raised in a low-income Stockton neighborhood by a single mother, also made history as the city's first Black mayor.
Before that, Tubbs attended Stanford University, interned at the White House under the Obama administration and served as a Stockton City Council member.
As mayor, Tubbs created a program to provide mentoring, internships and monthly stipends to young men deemed likely to participate in gun violence and a basic-universal-income pilot program, funded by donors like the Economic Security Project, to provide $6,000 a year to 125 randomly selected, low-income Stockton residents.
In 2020, Tubbs lost his reelection bid in a tight mayoral race. “I had to figure out how to use rejection as a redirection,” says Tubbs, 32.
The former mayor chose to move to investing, launching Tubbs Ventures in 2022, to back traditionally overlooked founders. “Talent and intellect are truly universal,” says Tubbs. “Resources and opportunities are not.”
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Each and every one of us has a role to play in changing the structure of our society and creating the society, the country, the world we truly deserve.”
The early-stage venture fund aims to invest in diverse founders seeking change in core areas: government technology, financial technology, transportation, media, climate and education.
“At first I thought politics was the only way to change the structure of society and change this road,” Tubbs said at this year's Forbes Under 30 Summit on October 3 in Detroit. “Part of it also has to do with capital. Politics alone cannot explain why Black families only have 13 cents for the dollar of every white family.”
In September, Tubbs Ventures joined John Legend, True Ventures and Google Black Founders to back JusticeText, a software company building AI to transcribe criminal evidence data for public defenders and attorneys.
“In many respects, our society is structured for the outcomes we complain about,” Tubbs said. “Each and every one of us has a role to play in changing the structure of our society and creating the society, the country, the world we truly deserve.”
30 Under 30 Class of 2018,
Law & Policy
