P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

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Vivek Viswanathan, 2013

Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Staff, The White House

Vivek Viswanathan is the child of immigrants from India

Fellowship awarded to support work towards an MBA/JD in Business and Law at Stanford University

Vivek serves as special assistant to the US President and senior advisor to the Deputy Chief of Staff. Before assuming his current position, Vivek was a senior counselor to California Governor Gavin Newsom. In that role, he was a senior budget and fiscal advisor to the Governor and represented the administration in the Assembly and Senate budget and conference committees for the Governor's first two budgets.

Before joining the administration, Vivek served as a special consultant to the Governor's transition office. He was previously a special advisor in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. and a policy advisor on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. He was a candidate for California State Treasurer in 2018.  

Vivek was born in Brooklyn to parents of Indian descent. He received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University, a master's degree (MPhil) as a Henry Fellow at the University of Cambridge, and JD and MBA degrees from Stanford University.

In addition to his passion for history and public policy, Vivek enjoys endurance sports. He is a three-time qualifier for the Boston Marathon and has completed two Ironman triathlons (each consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run).

Education
  • MBA Business | Stanford University 2014
  • JD Law | Stanford University 2014
  • MPhil Historical Studies | University of Cambridge 2010
  • AB History | Harvard University 2009
Work History
  • The White House, Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Chief of Staff
  • California Department of Finance, Chief Deputy Director for Budget | January 2019 - July 2020
  • Transition Office of Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom, Special Consultant | November 2018 - January 2019
  • California State Treasurer, Democratic candidate | January 2018 - June 2018
  • Office of California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Special advisor | January 2017 - January 2018
  • Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Policy advisor | May 2015 - November 2016
  • California Governor Gavin Newsom, Senior Counselor | July 2020
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