Isaac Gregory Bryan (born January 16, 1992)[1] is an American politician serving as a Member of the California State Assembly where he represents the 55th district, which includes much of South Central Los Angeles.[2] Bryan was previously the executive director of the University of California Los Angeles's Black Policy Project, head of the Public Policy Division for the Million Dollar Hoods Project,[3] and served as the Director of Public Policy for the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center. From July to November 2023, he served as Assembly Majority Leader.[4]
Early life and education
Bryan was born in Dallas, Texas to a teenage mother in poverty who gave him up at birth.[5] Bryan was adopted as an infant and has lived in California since he was in the sixth grade.[2] His family served as a foster family for hundreds of children over two decades and adopted him and eight others from the child welfare system.[6]
Bryan is the founding director of UCLA's Black Policy Project (BPP). The BPP aims to build connections between black scholarship at UCLA and public policy decision making.[9] Bryan also serves as director of Public Policy for UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.[5] Bryan also serves as director of public policy for the Million Dollar Hoods (MDH) Project which seeks to map the costs of Mass incarceration in Los Angeles and the United States broadly.[7][10]
Bryan was one of the leading scholars who articulated that "defunding police" was really a call to question the size of our tax contributions to policing and criminalization at the expense of social services.[15] Bryan was the co-chair for Los Angeles County's Measure J, which was approved by over 2.1 million voters and diverts at least 10% of the county's general funds "to address the disproportionate impact of racial injustice through community investment and alternatives to incarceration".[16][17][18] Bryan regularly writes and provides commentary on policing and criminal justice reform in the United States.[19][20][21] He has been an outspoken advocate on the need to do away with bail.
Bryan also served as a Commissioner on the Los Angeles Unified School District task force that was convened to study how to reinvest the money cut from the school police budget.[22]