Mishaela Durán

Mishaela Durán serves as the Director of the Office of Regional Operations at the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Mishaela is the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary on regional-state relations management, providing executive leadership to ten regional offices. She also leads cross-cutting strategic initiatives and public-private partnerships for ACF, an agency that administers over $53 billion annually through over 60 programs ranging from early childhood development to child welfare.

Mishaela has held positions in local and state government agencies, including the District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and the Arizona Governor’s Community Policy Office, where she assisted in the implementation of major reform initiatives. 
Mishaela graduated cum laude from Yale University with a Bachelor’s in English Literature and earned a Master’s in Administration, Planning and Social Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Mishaela was a 2017 Baldrige Executive Fellow, a cross-sector fellowship focused on performance excellence at the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology.