Michael Wiafe

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.