In addition to holding elected office, Coonerty co-founded NextSpace Coworking, and is a lecturer for the Legal Studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the Panetta Institute for Public Policy at CSU Monterey Bay.

Following law school, he served as legislative counsel for the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age in Washington, D.C.

Coonerty began his teaching career at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003 as a lecturer in the Legal Studies department where he has taught several courses on democracy and constitutional law.

Additionally, Coonerty is a frequent visiting instructor at the Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University, Monterey Bay.

As part of his responsibilities as mayor, Coonerty served as the lead city negotiator in an agreement with the University of California Santa Cruz related to their Long Range Development Plan.

[12] In June 2015, Coonerty wrote a letter subsequently approved by the Board of Supervisors requesting the county withdraw investments from banks that have pleaded guilty to committing felonies, an initiative that won praise from Robert Reich.

[13] Coonerty led the effort to establish a local Nurse-Family Partnership Program and a Thrive by Three Fund to support families' health and educational outcomes.

During his time as supervisor, Coonerty has led the expansion of the Thrive by 5 initiative to support low income moms and their children as well as the Community Partnership for Accountability, Connection and Treatment (PACT), a collaborative anti-crime project between government and nonprofits that focuses on improving outcomes for repeat offenders.

[17] The book received praise from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, editor and professor Richard Florida, and author Walter Isaacson.