Catalina Cifuentes is executive director of College and Career Readiness for the Riverside County Office of Education. She is a governor-appointed commissioner and chair for the California Student Aid Commission and Cradle to Career System Governing Board. A passionate educator and fierce advocate, she has demonstrated the power behind effective school counseling, college affordability, and higher education advocacy on behalf of all students. In addition to serving on the PPIC Higher Education Center Advisory Council, she is a member of various local, regional, state, and national committees. She was the recipient of the Visionary Award from the California College Guidance Initiative; the Western Association for College Admission Counseling 2018 Joseph P. Allen Human Relations Award; the 2018 Inclusion, Access, and Success Award from the National Association of College Admission Counseling; and the 2019 Riverside County Office of Education Certificated Administrator of the Year. As a first-generation college graduate, she strives to show the impact that can be made when educators have high expectations for all students and when students pursue their post-secondary dreams regardless of the odds against them.

Hans Johnson is a senior fellow at the PPIC Higher Education Center and a member of the PPIC Economic Policy Center. His research focuses on improving college access and completion. He frequently presents his work to policymakers and higher education officials, and he serves as a technical advisor to many organizations seeking to improve college graduation rates, address workforce needs, and engage in long-term capacity planning. His other areas of expertise include international and domestic migration, housing in California, and population projections. Previously, he served as research director at PPIC. Before joining PPIC, he worked as a demographer at the California Research Bureau and at the California Department of Finance. He holds a PhD in demography and a master’s degree in biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ashish Vaidya is president and chief executive officer of Growing Inland Achievement. He previously served as a senior research advisor to the National Association of Higher Education Systems, and as a senior fellow at the American Association for State Colleges and Universities, where he led an effort to update the association’s stewardship of place framework. From 2018 to 2022, he served as president of Northern Kentucky University. Before that, he was interim president as well as provost of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. He also served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Cal State Los Angeles and as dean of faculty at Cal State Channel Islands. He has published numerous books and articles and serves on several boards and councils, including CSU’s Strategic Enrollment Management Advisory Council and the Inclusive Planning Council for Thrive Inland SoCal. He holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the University of California, Davis. He also holds an MA in Economics from the University of Mumbai, India, and a BA in Economics, Political Science, and Statistics from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai.

Michael Wiafe is assistant deputy cabinet secretary in the office of Governor Gavin Newsom, working on the education cradle-to-career database, including creating a Master Plan for Career Education. Previously, he was a government and community relations fellow at the Inland Empire Community Foundation, as well as serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Redlands. His start in policy was during his years as a student leader and advocate, where he served as president of the Cal State Student Association, representing the over 480,000 students on the 23 California State University campuses. He is the former host of the CSU’s podcast, “Higher Ed Rewired,” and co-founder of “PolicyWise” podcast, a program of Youth Leadership Institute in partnership with CAFWD. He is a first-generation African immigrant and he received a BA in political science from San Diego State University and an MPP from the Goldman School at University of California, Berkeley.