RAPSA is proud to announce that Ben Chida will be the Keynote Speaker for the RAPSA Forum.
Ben Chida has had a challenging educational journey and is using his personal encounters as a way to reshape the California education system. As part of the California governor's council for career education, Ben Chida and other leaders of California’s education and workforce agencies – working with students, families, adult learners, workers, employers, labor, and community-based organizations –have developed a set of big ideas for creating more equitable access to living wage, fulfilling work. At the RAPSA Forum, Ben Chida will provide valuable insight and inspirational perspective of the importance of serving at-promise students with excellence.
Ben Chida is Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Senior Advisor for Cradle to Career in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, which he joined after serving on the Governor’s transition in 2018. Prior to joining the Governor’s Office, Ben served as Attorney-Advisor in the executive office of then-Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, as a judicial law clerk to federal judges in California and on the D.C. Circuit, and as a third-grade teacher in New York City. Ben’s educational journey includes dropping out of high school, attending Orange Coast College, and receiving a B.A. from UC Berkeley, a teaching certificate in childhood education from Pace University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Click here to learn more about the California Governor's Council for Career Education.