Lande Ajose is vice president and Walter and Esther Hewlett Chair in Understanding California’s Future. She is also interim director of the PPIC Higher Education Center and a senior fellow at PPIC. Her career has focused on improving the lives of Californians by working in state government, private philanthropy, and research institutions. Her research interests include addressing issues of inequality through education and employment. She was recently the senior policy advisor for higher education for the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Before joining the Newsom administration, she was executive director of California Competes, chaired the California Student Aid Commission, and served on the governance bodies of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the Institute for College Access and Success, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. She currently sits on the Board of Trustees at Occidental College. She holds a PhD in urban and regional studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Alberto M. Carvalho is superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second-largest school district. During his 14-year tenure as superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), he garnered local, state, national, and international recognition. His honors include Florida’s 2014 Superintendent of the Year, the 2014 National Superintendent of the Year, the 2016 winner of the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education, the 2018 National Urban Superintendent of the Year, and the 2019 National Association for Bilingual Education Superintendent of the Year Award, making him the most accomplished superintendent in America’s history. Under his tenure, M-DCPS became one of the nation’s highest-performing urban school systems, receiving systemwide accreditation from AdvancEd in 2014. M-DCPS was named as the 2014 College Board Advanced Placement Equity and Excellence District of the Year and the 2012 winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education. He is now seeking to elevate LAUSD to the premier spot in American urban education. He currently serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, appointed by the US Secretary of Education. He also serves as a committee member for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and as an advisory committee member to the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance. He is a dedicated member of the national boards of directors for Common Threads and the Posse Foundation.

Lishaun Francis is director of behavioral health at Children Now. As part of the health team, she supports Children Now’s mental health/trauma efforts. Prior to joining Children Now, she was an associate director at the California Medical Association, where she provided policy support and analysis for California physicians on Medi-Cal, workers’ compensation, and health information technology. She spent over two years with the Legislative Analyst’s Office, where she provided fiscal and policy analyses to the state legislature on the issues of mental health, developmental disabilities, and alcohol and drug programs. In Washington, DC, she worked as a program analyst for the US Department of Education, providing fiscal support on issues of higher education. She received her master’s of public policy from the University of Michigan, and her BA in sociology from Spelman College.

Melissa Stafford Jones is director of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative at the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS). In this role she works with CalHHS departments, sister state agencies, and partners and stakeholders throughout the state to reimagine California’s children and youth behavioral health system into an innovative, upstream-focused ecosystem where all children and youth are routinely screened, supported, and served for emerging and existing behavioral health (mental health and substance use) needs. Prior to her appointment to CalHHS, she was executive director of First 5 Association of California, leading the organization’s strategies to advance a whole-child, whole-family, equity-centered early childhood policy and agenda. She served as regional director for the US Department of Health and Human Services from 2014–2017, and worked with local and state organizations, key stakeholders, and elected officials throughout the region to implement the Affordable Care Act, increase access to health care and social services, and improve the lives and health of diverse communities. Previously, she was president and CEO of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, leading the organization’s strategy to advance public policies that support the essential role of the safety net and improve health status and access to care for low-income and uninsured individuals and communities. She holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in biology from Saint Mary’s College of California.