Aaron Brieno

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT AARON BRIENO

Currently, I serve as Chief of Staff in the California Senate to a member of the California Legislature who represents California\'s rural Central Valley. Additionally, I am Co-Director at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law\'s Legislative & Public Policy Clinic. I began my educational journey at West Hills Community college and then transferred to Chapman University where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership (\'10). I then transitioned to the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law where I graduated with a Juris Doctor (\'14). More recently, I attended the Harvard Kennedy School where I graduated from the Mid-Career Master\'s of Public Administration Program (\'22). As the grandson of migrant farmworkers, I was born and raised in California’s rural San Joaquin Valley. My background helped me develop an acute understanding of the societal inequities that exist in this region of the nation. The social disparities that I observed growing up in the San Joaquin Valley instilled in me a passion for implementing social change through social activism, the law, and political engagement. After graduating from law school, I entered the California Legislature through the nationally recognized Senate Fellows Program.Since my fellowship year I have served in the California Legislature for over seven years, most recently as Chief of Staff for California State Senator Ben Hueso (40th District). As an admitted member of the California State Bar, I am passionate about teaching and mentoring aspiring lawyers who are interested in implementing social change through political engagement and social activism. I am able to share my passion for the implementation of social change through the political process by serving as the Co-Director of the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law’s Legislative & Public Policy Clinic. This unique and innovative clinical experience provides students with practical public policymaking skills. In 2016, I founded Inspire California, a community-based organization that provides free college prep resources, scholarships, mentoring, and college campus tours to high school students of Central Valley migrant farmworkers. Inspire California has organized free trips to Stanford University, Fresno State, USC, Sacramento State, the California State Capitol, the Golden 1 Center, and Google\'s global headquarters in Mountain View, California.