The newest two job changes in a string of departures under Mayor Bill de Blasio include the departure of Chief Technology Officer Minerva Tantoco, who announced in a July 29 email that she will depart to join the woman-run venture capital firm Future\Perfect as a senior adviser.
"We wish her the best as she moves back to the private sector, and are excited about the expanded agenda and new innovators we’ll be rolling out this fall to ensure that we continue to build on what Minerva helped start,” de Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein told Politico.
Also, Sree Sreenivasan will join NYC as a replacement to chief digital officer Jessica Singleton, who announced plans last month to depart the city to pursue an MBA at Harvard.
Sreenivasan is best known by the public for serving as the first chief digital officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Drawing on "a wealth of experience," de Blasio said, Sreenivasan also served as the first chief digital officer of Columbia University, and is a mayoral appointee on the Commission on Public Information and Communication. He is credited with leading creation of the Met's first app; he invited Instagram users to photograph the museum after-hours for #emptyMet; and he oversaw the launch of an increased online presence.
This newest wave of role changes in New York City follow a torrent of announcements from others employees this summer. Emily Lloyd, commissioner of the Environmental Protection Department; Nilda Mesa, director of the city's Office of Sustainability; and Maya Wiley, the mayor's chief counsel, each announced plans to depart or change agencies. Karen Hinton, de Blasio's former press secretary, also left in June. The mayor's social media director, Scott Kleinberg, resigned in June after just two months of service, sharing on Facebook that he felt compelled to leave in order to preserve his "health and sanity."
