The Leadership Journey of Leuwam Tesfai to Executive Director of the CPUC

It takes a rare mix of expertise, resolve, and vision to lead one of California’s most complex and consequential state agencies. At the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), that responsibility now rests with Leuwam Tesfai, who began with the CPUC 15 years ago as an intern. After rising through a series of staff and management roles, Leuwam now leads a 1,600-person workforce whose decisions shape the daily lives of Californians and influence an economy that ranks as the fourth largest in the world.

Born in San Diego as the daughter of immigrant parents from Ethiopia and Eritrea, Leuwam learned the value of hard work and perseverance early. She wanted to go to law school after graduating from Emory University, but first she gained experience working in the private sector and learned a great deal about renewable energy markets, commercialization of clean energy technologies, and siting and permitting of generation facilities.

When Leuwam began her legal studies at the University of San Francisco School of Law, she balanced demanding studies with working late nights at the law library while also serving as an intern at the CPUC. Along the way, she says, she was supported by mentors and colleagues who believed in her and helped her push through the toughest days.

“Whenever I left my desk, I brought a notebook and pen, ready to take on any assignment,” Leuwam says of her CPUC intern days. “I was exposed to many things, gained mentors, and got to work on interesting projects. I just jumped in.”

This philosophy helped Leuwam directly learn the CPUC’s large mission as she held various roles, including law clerk, judicial clerk, attorney, Public Utilities Regulatory Analyst, and Advisor and Chief of Staff to two CPUC commissioners. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Executive Director for Energy and Climate Policy, where she led a staff of over 200 analysts and engineers, and was a regular presenter at CPUC Voting Meetings and California State Legislature hearings. She’s worked on a spectrum of the CPUC’s most challenging issues, including clean energy procurement, energy reliability and affordability, transportation electrification, and complex energy finance and rate recovery.

Energy Division staff conduct a site visit at the Ivanpah solar electric generating system, a concentrated solar thermal power plant in San Bernardino County.

“Leuwam is one of the most talented people I’ve worked with,” says Kerry Fleisher, a Director in the Energy and Climate Policy Division and previously Chief of Staff for former CPUC President Alice Reynolds. “She can pivot from one topic to another across many diverse areas while understanding them all in depth. And she is empathetic as a leader, warm and responsive, no matter how busy she is.”

Kerry remembers an early interaction when Leuwam was Chief of Staff for former Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma and Kerry was an Advisor to a different Commissioner. Kerry called Leuwam for advice on an issue she had been ruminating on for a couple of days. Within two minutes, Leuwam had a solution.

“She is always solutions-oriented,” Kerry says. “She is often able to see the through-line on tough issues.”

Leuwam says working for Commissioner Shiroma during the pandemic was very impactful for her. The Commissioner’s father was a farm worker, and she personally understood the education inequity that low-income students experienced during the pandemic. (One particular media story in August 2020 showed two students sitting outside a Salinas, Calif., Taco Bell in order to use the Wi-Fi for their homework.) Commissioner Shiroma’s team worked with others at the CPUC on solutions through the CPUC’s California LifeLine program, including using city buses for public Wi-Fi hubs, increasing broadband access, and suspending customer disconnections.

“The impact on low-income people during the pandemic was very acute and we tried to be as creative as possible to support them through broadband access for remote learning and tele-health, and to stabilize electric, natural gas, and water service” Leuwam says. “It became very clear to me then that the work we do at the CPUC impacts lives and affects every single person in California.”

Experiences like these shape Leuwam’s priorities as Executive Director. In her first weeks on the job, she has emphasized a clear focus: building programs that meaningfully improve the daily life of consumers, whether by keeping the lights on, ensuring safe and reliable drinking water, or expanding access to safer transportation. She also has underscored that the CPUC’s success depends on reaching California’s full diversity, noting that roughly 40 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home.

“Leuwam brings immense capability, curiosity, and devotion to public service,” says CPUC President John Reynolds. "I've seen her in many capacities at the CPUC, from Legal Division to Commissioner offices to the Energy Division, and I'm excited that she has hit the ground running as Executive Director.”

Leuwam Tesfai with former CPUC President Alice Reynolds at COP 30 Bilateral with New South Wales, Australia

Leuwam is engaging with employees across all CPUC Divisions while spending time in the San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles offices. She’s also meeting with a variety of stakeholders, such as county commissioners. And she’s just getting started. She looks forward to sitting in on CPUC transportation enforcement actions, meeting Consumer Affairs Representatives on the front lines of assisting consumers with utility complaints, and offering her guidance and support to Administrative Services teams like IT and the Budget office.

Connecting with and supporting staff was one of Leuwam’s priorities in her previous role as Deputy Executive Director for Energy and Climate Policy. She regularly met with employees over brown bag lunches and promoted employee innovation and equity as her “North Star.” Leuwam also successfully brought the Division’s vacancy rate down from a painful 24 percent to under nine percent. One way she accomplished this was by launching a robust marketing strategy across the Division that included promoting hiring opportunities in presentations and speaking engagements, regular LinkedIn posts, and distributing “We’re Hiring” buttons for staff to wear while networking or attending public events.

“I came from private industry where there were economic downturns and lay-offs,” Leuwam says. “I always want to make the CPUC a better place to work where we have the people we need, we’re able to do more, staff aren’t overworked, and people feel valued.”

Leuwam acknowledges that balancing life with the demands of a high-profile role isn’t always easy. She is grateful for the assistance of her executive team, especially Angela Galang, her Executive Assistant, who deftly manages her calendar, travel arrangements, and deadlines. Besides that, Leuwam keeps it simple by trying to drink plenty of water, get good sleep, and spend time with her family.

In many ways, Leuwam’s path from intern to Executive Director of the CPUC reflects the very values she now champions: resilience, curiosity, and a deep commitment to public service. As she steps into this role, her focus is not just managing a complex agency like the CPUC, but also on ensuring its work continues to make a tangible difference in the lives of Californians today and for years to come.

Leuwam Tesfai taking the oath of office from former CPUC President Alice Reynolds

By Jody Holzworth, Deputy Executive Director, External Affairs Division