Steve Zimmer is the Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction in the Student Support Services branch of the California Department of Education. Formerly known as the Equity Branch, this branch includes a newly formed Whole Child Division as well as a focus on college and career transition, student achievement, and support, and oversees our newly created counseling coalition to help support CDE’s organizational development around building counseling, social-emotional learning (SEL), and other whole child programs. This branch has been specifically designed and named (including the addition of a health and mental health program) to better reflect the important work of the three divisions in this branch and to align work to strengthen the student supports we have built during the pandemic.