The White House announced several political appointees to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today, including a few tech-focused staffers.
Included in the Jan. 26 announcement was Chris Canning, who will serve as chief of staff for OPM. In his new role, he will report directly to the OPM director and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the agency’s workforce, operations, and external affairs. This will not be Canning’s first stint at OPM. From 2013 to 2015, he served as a senior advisor to the Director of OPM. More recently, Canning was an executive vice president in the public affairs division of DKC Public Relations.
Another appointee re-joining OPM is Curtis Mejeur, who will be a senior advisor to the director for technology and delivery. He previously worked at OPM helping to restore agency systems and has also served at the Office of Management and Budget. He re-joins OPM after being the chief technology officer at A3 Consulting, an IT consulting firm. He also served as the chief delivery officer at Ad Hoc, a tech startup focused on serving government agencies.
David Padrino joins the Federal government following his time in state government. Padrino, who will be the executive director of the Office of Human Capital Data Management and Modernization, served in Governor John Hickenlooper’s Administration as Colorado’s first chief performance officer. Before his time in the public sector, Padrino the Boston Consulting Group.
Another Obama-Biden administration alum is Robert Shriver, who will serve as associate director of Employee Services. During the Obama-Biden administration, Shriver held multiple roles at OPM. He initially served as deputy general counsel and then as assistant director for National Healthcare Operations. During his time at OPM, he was part of the White House team that implemented the Affordable Care Act. Before re-joining OPM, Shriver worked for IdeaCrew, Inc., an IT firm specializing in health benefit exchange technology.
In a press release, OPM noted that 85 percent of OPM First Week appointees identifying as people of color, women, or LGBTQ. It further noted that additional members of the Biden-Harris appointee team will be named soon.
“President Biden made a promise to the American people that he would assemble diverse and talented teams that look like America, and today he continues to fulfill that promise,” Canning said in the release. “We are looking forward to joining the hard-working and committed civil servants at OPM to support and empower the Federal workforce.”
