Jeanne Holm, Garcetti’s senior technology adviser of more than four years — and who was appointed chief data officer in May — is now deputy mayor for budget and innovation, the Mayor’s Office announced last week.
She replaces Miguel Sangalang, who is now interim director and general manager at the city Bureau of Street Lighting. Holm, who joined Los Angeles in April 2016 as deputy chief information officer and assistant general manager, will oversee Garcetti’s “agenda to close the digital divide and lay the foundation for the city’s strong fiscal recovery,” according to the news release about Friday's announcement. She will build on Sangalang’s work in “redefining and streamlining the daily operations of local government, developing the city’s open data portal, reforming procurement processes, making service deployment more equitable, and bringing more public services online,” the mayor’s office said. Holm’s new office is also charged with overseeing the yearly city budget and includes six departments with more than 3,000 staffers. A recruitment for a new chief data officer is not currently underway.
“Strong and creative leadership is absolutely critical to navigating an unprecedented pandemic, deep economic devastation and a severe fiscal crisis — and I have no doubt that Jeanne Holm will be a powerful force in steering our city toward a future of equity and resilience,” Garcetti said in a statement. “Jeanne has dedicated her career to deploying data, technology and innovation to serve the best interests of Angelenos and all Americans, and I look forward to tapping into her experience and insights to meet the needs of our residents now and in the years to come.”
“At a time of unprecedented challenges for our city, we are going to zero in on steps to inject greater equity and efficiency into city services by closing the digital divide, streamlining daily government operations, and reforming our procurement process. Meeting that charge goes hand-in-hand with what we need to do to spur our economic recovery: strengthening our work on sustainability, open data and transparency, and improving Angelenos’ digital and financial literacy,” Holm told Techwire via email, adding: “I welcome opportunities to collaborate on efforts to enhance the quality of life for all Angelenos today and for generations to come.”
Holm, who had served as chief knowledge architect and digital strategy manager for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) before joining Los Angeles, has created the city’s Telecommunications and Digital Equity Forum, forged relationships with telecommunications companies and spearheaded OurCycleLA, a digital inclusion program aimed at reducing the city’s electronic waste while providing work and job training.
Her main focus as CDO was digital equity, Holm told Techwire in May after assuming that role. The city, she said then, was seeking vendors “interested in coming forward with ideas about how we can move the city forward right now, and not just how do we get through the next six weeks.
“We’re really looking at post-COVID. How will things change? We’re looking at all these things that people might want to have different in the world ahead. … So we’re interested in companies that are looking at those kinds of solutions,” she said then.
“I’m honored and excited to work with Mayor Garcetti to lift up Angelenos by leveraging the best of our city’s innovation, dedicated workforce and resources,” Holm said in a statement. “As we face the challenges from this pandemic head-on, we will continue to be guided by the principles of equity and justice to create opportunities for every Angeleno.”
Holm will be among the speakers at the Los Angeles Virtual Digital Government Summit on Thursday and Friday, presented by Government Technology magazine.*
*Government Technology magazine is a publication of e.Republic, which also produces Techwire.
This article was originally published by Techwire, Government Technology's sister publication.
