Panel Discussion: Careers in Government & Public Policy

Don Daves-Rougeaux (he/him)

Regional K14 TAP (Technical Assistance Provider)

Bay Area Community College Consortium

https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-harjo-daves-rougeaux-ms-ed-4588a79/

K12 educator and UC administrator. My work has centered on educational equity, access, policy reform and innovation. Currently working to strengthen the high school to community college pathways to living wage employment through the strategic deployment work force development funding, policy advocacy and the use of labor market indicator data to identify high wage occupations with severe equity and opportunity gaps.

 

Allan Friedman (he/him)

Senior Advisor and Strategist

Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (US Govt)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allanafriedman/

Friedman coordinates a global cross-sector community efforts around fundamental technical and security policy innovations, and works to advance their adoption inside the US government. Prior to joining the Federal government, Friedman spent over a decade as a noted information security and technology policy scholar at Harvard's Computer Science department, the Brookings Institution, and George Washington University's Engineering School. He is the co-author of the popular text "Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know," has a degree in computer science from Swarthmore College and a PhD in public policy from Harvard University.

Tepring Piquado (she/her)

Chief Policy Director

California Issues Forum

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tepringpiquado/

Tepring Piquado, Ph.D. is a proud UC postdoc alumna of UC Irvine. After completing her post-doc, she went to Sacramento to complete a science, technology and policy fellowship with California Council on Science and Technology. Currently, Tepring spends time in Sacramento working as chief policy director at California Issues Forum where she provides advisory guidance and analysis on active bills and major issues being considered by state legislators. She also works at home in Los Angeles leading a nonprofit called ADDSTEAM that aims to advance and develop a diverse STEAM workforce (science, tech, engineering, agriculture and math). She earned her B.S. in computer science from Georgetown, and her Ph.D. and M.S. in neuroscience from Brandeis.

Tooraj Panah (he/him)

Engineering Geologist

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tooraj-panah-phd-pg-ceg-91781216/

Tooraj Panah is an Engineering Geologist in California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). He is a Professional Geologist and Certified Engineering Geologist in State of California who has earned his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Geology and Structural Geology. He has practiced in California for more than 12 years and 17 years overseas. Dr. Panah has more than 29 years’ experience in the fields of engineering geology and geologic hazards, structural geology, relative to siting, design, and construction of civil works projects and environmental geology. He has provided technical expertise, support and recommendations on geotechnical topics. Since 2010, he has been the main and active engineering geologist helping in On-call Geotechnical contact with Caltrans and for some major Design-&-Built projects in Southern California. Mr. Panah has participated in the project planning phase and progressing through the design, construction, and operation phases of the State Transportation System as an engineering geologist in the consultants.