Akbar Hossain currently serves as the Secretary of Policy and Planning for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Prior to his appointment to Governor Josh Shapiro’s cabinet, Secretary Hossain served as the Executive Director of the Shapiro-Davis Transition and as Policy Director on the Shapiro for Pennsylvania gubernatorial campaign. 

Previously, he was a white collar government investigations attorney at Morgan Lewis and served as a law clerk at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He has been recognized nationally as a Harry S. Truman Scholar and as a recipient of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship. His work has been featured on CNN, NPR, Huffington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other media outlets. Secretary Hossain has a Bachelor’s Degree from Franklin & Marshall College and a Juris Doctor from University of Pennsylvania Law School.