Michael Wiafe is an Assistant Deputy Cabinet Secretary in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom working on education cradle-to-career, including the efforts in creating a Master Plan for Career Education. Previously, he was at the Inland Empire Community Foundation focused on building a vibrant Inland Empire region encompassing Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, as well as an adjunct Professor at the University of Redlands. Passionate about socioeconomic mobility, his start in policy was in his years as a student leader and advocate, at one point serving as President of the Cal State Student Association representing the over 480,000 students on the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU). Michael is the former host of the CSU’s podcast, “Higher Ed Rewired,” and cofounder of PolicyWise Podcast, a program of Youth Leadership Institute in partnership with CA FWD. He is an African immigrant and graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from San Diego State University and a Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School at UC Berkeley where he was a Head TA for Professor and former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich.