Andrea Whitsett is the executive director of Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, a nonpartisan research institute that houses the Kyl Center for Water Policy and the Arizona Governance and Policy Academy. During her tenure, Whitsett has overseen the publication of numerous research studies and public opinion polls on a broad range of topics including child well-being, housing, and policing. She has led the Institute’s signature State of Our State Conference and helped launch the pilot Arizona Citizens’ Initiative Review. Whitsett was named a “40 Under 40” honoree by the Phoenix Business Journal and in 2022 she was named a Leader of the Year in Public Policy by the Arizona Capitol Times.
Whitsett’s passion for service traces back to her grandmother, Julieta Saucedo Bencomo, a community activist who in 1979 became the first Latina to serve on the Arizona State Board of Education. Whitsett is a member of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s DATOS Research Committee and has edited multiple background reports for Arizona Town Hall. She is President of the national Consortium of University Public Service Organizations and immediate past chair of the Arizona Foundation for Women. She also serves on the Together for Arizona core team.
Whitsett holds a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Yale University where she was awarded an Amy Rossborough Fellowship through the Yale Women’s Center. Whitsett graduated from Arizona State University with a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management and has taught as a faculty associate in ASU’s School of Community Resources and Development.