ADVOCACY
Policy will be made and funds allocated regardless of whose voice
is at the table. Tom enjoys bringing business leaders to the table with
policy makers to learn and act on important issues. Addressing climate and sustainability, and helping lead the transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require unprecedented stakeholder cooperation.
Tom Hopcroft speaking at the MA State House as
Co-Chair of Legislative Tech Caucus Working Group
Until more recently, the tech community historically has not been very engaged with policy-making. In seeking to address this, Tom co-chaired a working group to support initially Senate President Karen Spilka (who founded the Legislative Tech Caucus in 2013) and current co-chairs Senator Brendan Crighton and Representative Anne-Margaret Ferrante, in bringing tech leaders into the State House -- and policy-makers into the tech community -- to share information, build a more robust dialogue, learn from each other, and inform policy to support innovation and economic vitality. Learn more.
Tom stood with Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey as she launched a legal challenge against President Trump's Executive Order barring entry into the US from several Muslim-majority countries (the Trump Travel Ban). He worked with industry, economists and attorneys to develop the factual basis of seven amicus briefs that were filed, including two in the United States Supreme Court, that were cited by Justices Sotomayor, Ginsburg and Breyer. President Biden overturned the order upon taking office in 2021. Learn more.
Tom Hopcroft hosts Attorney General Maura Healey and business leaders
Tom Hopcroft at the State House with Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker
In 2014, Tom created the State of the Massachusetts Tech Economy report to help policy makers and business leaders understand the economic impact of tech as a sector distinguished as both a large sector and a growth sector, and one that is powering the growth in all other sectors. Over time, the report was expanded to benchmark the composition of the tech sector and was instrumental in advocating to the media, business leaders and policy makers for embedding computer literacy and computational thinking into K-12 and underscored the need to create more opportunities to bring more women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and other under represented groups into tech. Learn more.
For the better part of the past decade Tom has been leading a delegation of tech leaders to Washington, DC, as part of an annual DC Fly-In in partnership with tech council peers across the nation. The delegation met with Administration officials and heard from national experts on the current policy landscape. It was also a critical opportunity for our tech leaders to meet with members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation and to advance a coordinated nationwide policy agenda with peers. Learn more.
Tom Hopcroft in the DC office with Representative Katherine Clark
Tom Hopcroft in Brazil with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
Tom also participated in international innovation missions to the United Kingdom and Brazil, helping to assemble a delegation of tech leaders to join the Massachusetts Innovation Mission delegation and develop business relationships with their international counterparts.
Learn more.