Tom Hopcroft has spent his career at the intersection of innovation and public policy, leading MassTLC for nearly two decades, founding the Net Zero Institute, and connecting the innovation economy to the policy decisions shaping it. Then he decided it was time to work from the inside.

Tom is now running for State Senate in the Second Middlesex District, and in this session he'll talk candidly about why: what working in innovation and coalition-building taught him about where Beacon Hill consistently falls short, where the policy environment is undermining the communities and industries we're trying to build, and what it took, personally and professionally, to decide that civic engagement wasn't someone else's job.

This is part talk, part listening session. Tom will share his story and his diagnosis of what's broken, then open the floor. Whether you live in the district or not, whether you've ever thought about running for anything or not — if you've ever felt like the systems around you weren't keeping pace with the problems you're trying to solve, this conversation is for you.