Tani Cantil-Sakauye is president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, where she holds the Walter and Esther Hewlett Chair in Understanding California’s Future. From 2011 to 2022, she served as the 28th Chief Justice of California and led the judiciary as the chair of the Judicial Council—the constitutional policy and rule making body of the judicial branch—the first person of color and the second woman to do so. Before she was elected statewide as the Chief Justice of California, she served more than 20 years on California appellate and trial courts and was appointed or elevated to higher office by three governors. Earlier in her career she served as a deputy district attorney for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and on the senior staff of Governor Deukmejian, first as deputy legal affairs secretary and later as a deputy legislative secretary. She holds a BA and a JD from the University of California, Davis.

Michael V. Drake is president of the University of California (UC). He leads a system of ten campuses, six academic health centers, three affiliated national laboratories, more than 290,000 students and 240,000 faculty and staff. He holds faculty appointments as a professor of ophthalmology at the UCSF School of Medicine and as a professor of medicine at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. Under his leadership, UC has expanded its strong commitment to access, affordability, and academic excellence, all while weathering the COVID-19 pandemic. The university has continued to grow its enrollment and has worked to increase student diversity, enhanced student support, and affordability through the Tuition Stability Plan, the Native American Opportunity Plan, and an effort to create a debt-free path to a UC education. He has also been a strong advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts, including work to reimagine campus safety and policing at the University of California. That process led to the UC Community Safety Plan, providing a clear set of guiding principles. He served as president of Ohio State University from 2014 to 2020. Prior to that role, his entire academic career was spent at the University of California, including as chancellor of UC Irvine and as UC systemwide vice president for health affairs. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. During more than two decades of national leadership in higher education, he has chaired the boards of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the Association of American Universities, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He received his BA from Stanford University and his MD and residency training from the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Mildred García is the California State University’s 11th chancellor. She is the first Latina to serve not only as the CSU’s chancellor, but also as a four-year university system head. Prior to her appointment as chancellor, she served as president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities since 2018, where she was a strong and internationally renowned advocate for public higher education, working to influence federal policy and regulations on behalf of 350 member colleges and universities. She is the first Latina to lead one of the six presidentially based higher education associations in Washington, DC. She previously served as president of Cal State Fullerton, president of CSU Dominguez Hills, and CEO of Berkeley College; and has held both academic and senior-level positions at Arizona State University; Montclair State University; Pennsylvania State University; Teachers College, Columbia University; and the Hostos, LaGuardia, and City Colleges of the City University of New York. A recipient of myriad awards and honors, she has served on several advisory boards, including the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, and the Committee on Measures of Student Success. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration at Baruch College, her master’s degrees in education at New York University and Columbia University, and her PhD at Columbia University.

Aisha Lowe is executive vice chancellor of the Office of Equitable Student Learning, Experience, and Impact in the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. In this leadership position, she leads academic affairs, student services, and workforce & economic development, overseeing over $3 billion in funding and numerous statewide programs and initiatives. Previously, she served as vice chancellor of educational services and supports at the Chancellor’s Office, where she provided leadership for the Academic Affairs unit. Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office in 2020, she served as associate professor of education at William Jessup University, where she oversaw the thesis research of future teachers in training. She also served as the dean of the Office of Academic Research, leading the university’s strategic academic research plan and academic grant-making. Additionally, she has been an adjunct professor at the Los Rios Community College District, Sierra College, and California State University, Sacramento. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s in sociology, and a PhD in educational psychology from Stanford University.