Add The California Post on Google Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi already has her next act lined up after she ends her four-decade career in Congress in January 2027.
The California congresswoman will return to her home state to lead the newly created Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy at the University of California, Berkeley.
“I think all of us in public service who have an opportunity to do so want to use our experience to train leaders for the future,” she told CNN.
She described the move as a chance to leave behind the partisan battles of Washington, DC without leaving public service altogether.
“I viewed this as a liberation for me from the political, not politics, but partisanship,” Pelosi said. “Because you’re going to an academic institution. It’s about what our founders had in mind with our Constitution, and it’s a beautiful story to tell.”
Pelosi announced in November 2025 that she would not seek reelection in 2026, bringing an end to her historic career representing California’s 11th Congressional District. She endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan as her preferred successor.
UC Berkeley announced Monday that it will launch the Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy in January 2027 within the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science.
Despite carrying her name, Pelosi stressed the institute will not be a traditional center with a dedicated building, office or campus landmark bearing her name.
Instead, she said it will function as what she described as a “programmatic” institute, using Berkeley’s existing classrooms, lecture halls and auditoriums to host courses, research and public events.
When asked whether students would one day walk past a building labeled the “Nancy Pelosi Institute,” she laughed.
“I hope not,” Pelosi said, adding that Berkeley already has “classrooms, they have auditoriums, they have theaters.”
She said the institute is meant to be an academic concept rather than a physical destination on campus, bringing together students, scholars and public officials through teaching, research and civic engagement.
The nonpartisan institute will focus on strengthening democratic institutions, addressing political polarization, advancing human and civil rights, and tackling major policy challenges ranging from climate change to artificial intelligence.
“The work of democracy is never finished, and securing its future is our greatest calling,” Pelosi said in UC Berkeley’s announcement.
“UC Berkeley has a long, proud history of challenging the status quo and producing leaders who run toward the greatest challenges of our time. I am honored to partner with this exceptional community of scholars and students so we can equip the next generation with the tools they need to strengthen our democratic institutions and forge a future that serves the public good.”
Pelosi said the proposal first came from Berkeley administrators and about eight faculty members nearly a year ago. Although honored by the offer, she said she did not immediately accept it.
She said the idea that ultimately convinced her was creating a bipartisan academic institute at Berkeley, which she described as “the epitome of public education.”
“I loved it because they talked about human rights in the US and in the world, talking about and addressing the challenges to our democracy, talking about challenges of the climate and economic income inequity,” Pelosi, 86, said.
The former Speaker of the House also said she plans to invite prominent Democrats and Republicans to Berkeley to speak with students and participate in discussions. She will also co-teach a course on Congress alongside political science professor Eric Schickler, one of the country’s leading scholars of the legislative branch.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said the institute reflects the university’s mission to prepare future civic leaders.
“The purpose and impact of the NPI will be defined and strengthened by Berkeley’s ability to bring together world-class faculty and extraordinary students and by our commitment, as the country’s preeminent public university, to advancing the greater good,” Lyons said. “We intend to do more than simply study democracy; we are building this institute to strengthen it.”
The institute is expected to support hundreds of students each year through faculty research, undergraduate courses and a visiting fellows program featuring experienced public officials from across the political spectrum.
According to the university, the project has already secured more than $35 million in philanthropic commitments toward a broader $50 million fundraising campaign to establish permanent endowments and expand future initiatives.
Pelosi told CNN she had agreed to move forward only after committing to raise $25 million in private donations before the institute was publicly announced, adding that reaching that milestone came “quite easily.”
Reflecting on the next chapter of her career, Pelosi said she hopes the institute will help prepare future generations of public servants while preserving the principles she spent decades championing in Congress.
“I’m so proud of what I leave behind, and how they go on to what’s next,” she said.
Pelosi has represented San Francisco in the US House of Representatives since 1987. She made history as the first and only woman to serve as Speaker of the House, holding the position from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023, becoming the first speaker in more than 60 years to serve nonconsecutive terms.
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