Two recent high-profile departures could change how the state and one consolidated city/county approach data and COVID-19.
Tamara Srzentic, who has helped lead technology and health initiatives at the Office of the Governor since January after a six-year career at the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS), has left the state to take a ministerial position with the southeastern European nation of Montenegro. In Twitter posts on Friday, Michael Wilkening, who is special adviser on Innovation and Digital Services in the Office of the Governor, congratulated Srzentic on being named Montenegro’s new minister of Public Administration, Digital Transformation and Media Reform and said: “They brought in the right person to modernize gov’t and ensure that gov’t is focused on Montenegrins.”
Srzentic hasn’t yet updated her LinkedIn entry to reflect her move, but commented “#ONETEAM” Friday on Twitter, in response to a post by the government of Montenegro acknowledging the election of its 42nd government. She made a similar comment on LinkedIn, in response to a post from another newly elected minister in Montenegro. In the Governor’s Office, Srzentic co-led the COVID-19 digital response team and helped develop the California COVID-19 emergency response website, covid19.ca.gov, in four days. She also spearheaded the state’s Policy Design Lab pilot to bring people-centered design to policymaking, and she was a founding member of the Inclusive by Design initiative. Srzentic also served as deputy director at CHHS’ Office of Innovation since February 2018.
In an email, Chaeny Emanavin, CHHS’ director of the Office of Innovation, told Techwire that Srzentic “helped introduce real human-centered design practices to state government.”
“Her insight into the importance of creating a psychologically safe space for the team to make mistakes and learn was critical to creating an effective environment for the Office of Innovation. She is a talented connector of people with the right skills to help each other. She can take theory and apply it into practical daily use. Those skills will serve her well in her new position,” Emanavin said. He indicated the state is still building out “the transition to the Center for Data Insights and Innovation (CDII) and determining what the new roles will be for that organization,” referring to the ongoing combination of his office with CHHS’ Office of Health Information Integrity and the Office of the Patient Advocate. It’s unclear whether the state will seek a successor to Srzentic, Emanavin said, because positions at CDII are not yet entirely clear.
Jason Lally, chief data officer for San Francisco since February and a seven-year staffer, said on Twitter that Friday was his last day. “I'll be taking some time to refresh from a difficult 2020 and then on to new opportunities,” Lally wrote, adding: “I will continue to cheer on @datasf as an alum of a great organization and look forward to great things from the team.”
Before becoming CDO, Lally had served as San Francisco's data services manager and its open data program manager, having joined the government entity in August 2013 as Mayor’s Innovation Fellow. Before joining San Francisco, Lally spent more than seven years at PlaceMatters including nearly four years as director of its decision lab. A spokesperson for San Francisco’s City Administrator office told Techwire that it plans to begin recruitment before month’s end.
