Yvanna Cancela

Yvanna Cancela is the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs where she serves as President Biden’s primary liaison to state elected officials. Previously, she served as the Chief of Staff to former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, and as the Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. She was also the first Latina to serve in the Nevada State Senate, elected to represent the 10th district. Earlier in her career, she served as the political director for the Culinary Workers Union and as executive director of the Immigrant Workers Citizenship Project. She graduated from Northwestern University and earned her Juris Doctor from the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.