Augustus Mays is the Director of Policy and Outreach at WestEd. Augustus is primarily responsible for helping conceptualize and implement WestEd’s strategic efforts to increase its visibility and impact with federal and state policymakers in the education, health, and justice prevention space. In addition, Augustus is responsible for: managing relationships in the Washington, DC policy world and liaising with partner organizations, professional associations, education think tanks and related entities; keeping WestEd staff and leadership current on policy developments that may impact the agency’s work; ensuring WestEd’s work remains nonpartisan; and helping design projects and events that inform education policymakers on critical issues facing the nation’s education systems.
Prior to joining WestEd in 2011, Augustus was the Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Knowledge Alliance, the national trade association representing the education research, development, and service industry.
Augustus received a BA in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MPA from the University of Oklahoma.