California Governor Gavin Newsom recently appointed Vishesh Anand, of Los Angeles, as Senior Advisor at the California Housing and Homelessness Agency. Another South Asian American, M. Dhakshike Wickrema, possibly of Sri Lankan origin, was among the slew of appointments announced June 30, for the Agency.
Anand has been Senior Advisor at the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency since 2025.
Prior to that He was Deputy Director of Special Projects at the Office of California Governor in 2025, where he was Deputy Regional Director of External Affairs from 2022 to 2025, a press release from the Governor’s office said.
Anand was a Public Engagement Deputy for Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs at the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti from 2021 to 2022.
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He was a Field Deputy at the Office of Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin from 2020 to 2021.
Anand was a Client Engagement Representative at Aspiration in 2020, an Operations Manager at Kinetic Society LLC from 2019 to 2020, and a Business Analyst at Kinetic Society LLC from 2017 to 2019.
Anand does not require Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $140,004. Anand, A graduate in Economics and Global Studies from University of California, Los Angeles, is registered with no party preference.
The Governor also appointed another person of South Asian origin, M. Dhakshike Wickrema, of Los Angeles, as Deputy Secretary of Homelessness at the California Housing and Homelessness Agency.
Wickrema has been Deputy Secretary of Homelessness at the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency since 2022.
She was Senior Deputy for Homelessness and Housing at the Office of Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas in the City of Los Angeles from 2020 to 2022. Wickrema was Senior Deputy for Homelessness and Mental Health for the Office of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas in the County of Los Angeles from 2015 to 2020.
She was a Senior Project Manager at Shelter Partnership Inc. from 2007 to 2015.
Wickrema has a Master of City Planning degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Illinois Wesleyan University.
This position also does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $197,772. Wickrema is a Democrat, the press release said.