Updates About People

On May 30, Governor Whitmer announced that Ryan Speidel will be the new director of the Office of Children’s Ombudsman and Brad Wieferich as the director of the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Speidel has been serving as the acting director of the OCO since March of this year. Prior to that, he was the deputy director at the OCO beginning in 2019. Speidel also has several years of experience, serving in roles at the Office of Inspector General and the Michigan Department of State. In his current role, he will help to investigate cases, advocate, and recommend changes to policy, practice, and law to help improve the lives of children.

Wieferich is the current acting director of MDOT and will now step into the role of director. He has worked within MDOT for 27 years, including previously serving as chief operations officer. Prior to joining MDOT, Wieferich served as a field engineer.

On April 28, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced staffing updates to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, & Energy (EGLE), as well as other executive office staff updates.

Aaron Keatley, who served as chief deputy director at EGLE, was selected to become the acting director of the department. Keatley was previously responsible for managing and coordinating Michigan’s environmental programs. Keatley will hold the position as acting director until Whitmer announces a permanent placement in the coming weeks. This comes after former director Dan Eichinger announced he was taking a new opportunity outside of the department.

In the executive office, a handful of individuals have new positions:

• Emily Paski is joining the governor’s legal team as the Tribal Liaison and Associate Counsel
• Dan Osher will join the legal team as Deputy Legal Counsel
• Alex Thibodeau will serve as the Director of Appointments
• Nate Engle was promoted to Director of the Office of Community Engagement
• Amanda Youssef was promoted to Director of Constituent Services

On Wednesday, January 4, Justice Elizabeth Clement was unanimously elected to serve as chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court for the two-year term following the resignation of former Chief Justice Bridget McCormack.

Chief Justice Clement was first appointed to the bench by former Republican Governor Rick Snyder. She will lead the 4-3 Democratic-appointed majority that will also be majority female with the recent addition of Justice Kyra Harris Bolden.