SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:
Brooks Allen, 45, of Los Gatos, has been appointed Education Policy Advisor to the Governor, and nominated Executive Director of the State Board of Education. Allen has been Assistant Superintendent, CCEE Liaison and Legal Counsel at the Marin County Office of Education since 2017. He was Principal at Shared Future Policy Strategies from 2016 to 2017. Allen was Vice President of Policy and Legal Affairs at Common Sense Kids Action from 2015 to 2017. He was Deputy Policy Director and Assistant Legal Counsel at the California State Board of Education from 2013 to 2015. Allen worked at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California as Director of Education Advocacy from 2010 to 2013 and as a Staff Attorney from 2004 to 2010. He served as Deputy City Attorney for the cities of Santa Cruz and Capitola at Atchison, Barisone, Condotti & Kovacevich from 2003 to 2004. Allen was a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area from 2001 to 2003. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $217,272. Allen is a Democrat.
Debra Brown, 47, of Sacramento, has been appointed Senior Policy Advisor at the State Board of Education. Brown has been Senior Managing Director of Education and Government Relations at Children Now since 2018. She was Director of the Government Affairs Division for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction at the California Department of Education from 2016 to 2018. Brown was Director at Children Now from 2013 to 2016. She was Senior Legislative Advocate at the California School Boards Association from 2002 to 2012. Brown was Legislative Assistant at the California Teachers Association in 2002. She was Project Manager at Birdsall, Wasco & Associates from 1997 to 2001. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $160,008. Brown is a Democrat.
###