SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments: Lisa Powell, 45, of Berkeley, has been appointed General Counsel of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Powell has been a Deputy City Attorney for the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office since 2019, where she is General Counsel of the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and the Civil Service Commission. She was an Attorney for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel from 2016 to 2019. Powell was Staff Counsel for the National Education Association from 2012 to 2016. She was also Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia from 2008 to 2012, and Chief Investigative Counsel of the Subcommittee in 2007 and 2008. Powell was an Associate at Bredhoff & Kaiser from 2005 to 2007. She was an Arthur Liman Fellow Attorney at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project from 2004 to 2005. Powell was a Law Clerk for Judge Betty Binns Fletcher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2003 to 2004. She served as a Truman Fellow for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1999 to 2000. Powell earned a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $192,552. Powell is a Democrat. Erin Hickey, 33, of West Sacramento, has been appointed Deputy Secretary of Communications at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Hickey has been Capitol Director at the Office of Senator Ben Hueso since 2021, where she was Communications Director from 2017 to 2021. She was a Legal Assistant at Hellman, Yates & Tisdale, Attorneys and Counselors at Law from 2011 to 2017. Hickey was a Consultant at the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance from 2009 to 2017. She was a Government Programs Specialist at Benefitfocus from 2009 to 2010, where she was a Corporate Communications Specialist from 2008 to 2009. Hickey earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Charleston School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $139,368. Hickey is a Democrat. Amy Faulkner, 44, of Elk Grove, has been appointed Chief Deputy Director at the California Employment Development Department. Faulkner has been Acting Chief Deputy of Operations at the California Employment Development Department since 2021 and was Deputy Director of the Department’s Policy, Accountability, and Compliance Branch from 2020 to 2021. Faulkner was also Chief of the Labor Market Information Division at the California Employment Development Department from 2018 to 2020. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $180,600. Faulkner is a Democrat. Kim Rigg, 54, of Folsom, has been appointed Superintendent of Education at the Division of Juvenile Justice in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where she has been Assistant Superintendent of Education since 2017. She was Supervisor of Correctional Education Programs at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2016 to 2017. Rigg was Supervisor of Academic Instruction at N.A. Chaderjian High School in the Division of Juvenile Justice from 2013 to 2016. She served as a Mentor Teacher and Teacher at N.A. Chaderjian, O.H. Close, DeWitt Nelson, and Karl Holton High Schools within the Division of Juvenile Justice from 2001 to 2013. Rigg was a Math Teacher at the Stockton Unified School District from 2003 to 2004, and was an Independent Studies Teacher at the Valley High School Atwater Campus from 1999 to 2000. Rigg was a Teacher at Vista High School from 1997 to 1998, at Lodi Community School from 1996 to 1997, and at Valley High School from 1993 to 1996. Rigg earned a Master of Education degree in Educational Counseling from California State University, Stanislaus. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $179,832. Rigg is registered without party preference. James Hill, 48, of Imperial, has been appointed Warden of the California Institution for Men at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where he has been Acting Warden since 2021. He held several positions at Centinela State Prison from 2002 to 2021, including Chief Deputy Warden, Associate Warden, Correctional Captain, Correctional Lieutenant, Correctional Sergeant, Correctional Counselor and Correctional Officer. Hill was Associate Warden at Calipatria State Prison from 2018 to 2019 and was Correctional Captain at the California Institution for Women from 2014 to 2016. Hill was a Correctional Officer at Salinas Valley State Prison from 2000 to 2002. He was a Correctional Officer at Arizona State Prison from 1998 to 2000. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $171,060. Hill is a Republican. Glen Pratt, 51, of Ontario, has been appointed Warden of the California Rehabilitation Center at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where he has been Acting Warden since 2020. He held several positions at the California Institution for Men in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 1998 to 2020, including Chief Deputy Warden, Associate Warden, Correctional Captain, Correctional Lieutenant and Correctional Sergeant. Pratt was a Correctional Officer at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison from 1995 to 1998. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $171,060. Pratt is a Republican. Gail Willis, 59, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the State Personnel Board. Willis has been an Educator and Mathematics Prevention/Intervention Specialist for the Los Angeles Unified School District since 1996. She was Southern California Special Assistant at the California Department of Insurance from 2016 to 2018. She is a member of the California Teachers Association and Vice President of the Southern Los Angeles Area Planning Commission. Willis earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Leadership, Administration and Public Policy and a Master of Arts degree in Education from Pepperdine University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $52,794. Willis is a Democrat.
###