As Mayor of San Jose, the Bay Area's largest city, Liccardo's innovative efforts to confront homelessness include pioneering the conversion of motels to housing in 2016, four years prior to California adopting it as a statewide model. He piloted the development of quick-build prefabricated housing communities that were constructed at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional apartments, helping thousands come off the streets. Liccardo also launched a successful program that employs unhoused residents cleaning the city in exchange for housing and pay ("San Jose Bridge"). Though San Jose long struggled with growing homelessness, it became one of the very few California cities to reduce street homelessness in Liccardo's final year in office, 2022.

In the year since he completed his two terms serving San Jose's one million residents as mayor, Liccardo has taught several classes at Stanford University focusing on urban solutions to homelessness, violent crime, and climate change. He also worked with a diverse group of stakeholders to launch and lead the "FAIR California" coalition, battling PG&E rate hikes and pushing for greater accountability of spending ratepayer money.

Prior to his service in elected office, Liccardo prosecuted felony crimes of sexual assault and child exploitation in the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, and also served as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of California. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Georgetown University. His published works have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other national publications. He and his wife, Jessica Garcia-Kohl, live in San Jose.