Biden Turns to Obama Administration Veterans, Private Sector Experts to Lead GSA

Following President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the list of political appointees that will lead the agency. According to the GSA, the appointees are a combination of Obama-Biden administration officials and others with public/private sector experience specifically in climate and technology.

The appointees are:

• Katy Kale, former assistant to the president for management and administration under President Obama and GSA chief of staff has been appointed the deputy administrator and will serve as the acting administrator.
• Sonny Hashmi, former CIO of GSA and will be the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) commissioner.
• Dave Zvenyach, who was an assistant commissioner and executive director of 18F will be the director of Technology Transformation Services within the FAS.
• Brett Prather, former associate administrator for the Office of Strategic Communication and deputy associate administrator for policy in the Office of Congressional & Intergovernmental Affairs at GSA, will be serving as the chief of staff.
• Sonal Larsen, formerly a national advisor for an innovative mayoral level partnership and a former official at both the White House Council of Environmental Quality and the Department of Energy. She will play a role as senior advisor on climate.
• Jacky Chang, former USDS lead for products, will serve as a senior advisor on technology.
• Nitin Shah, formerly the chief of staff and counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and an attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel, will be general counsel.
• Gianelle Rivera, the director of policy for Mayor Muriel Bowser and a former appointee in GSA’s Office of Congressional & Intergovernmental Affairs, will be the associate administrator for congressional and intergovernmental affairs.
• Teressa Wykpisz-Lee, a former Obama Appointee who led the press team for GSA and was the communications director for the CIO at the Department of Energy, will be the associate administrator of the Office of Strategic Communications.
• Amy Chiou, the deputy CFO of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee and associate speechwriter for the Biden-Harris campaign, will lead community engagement.
• Krystal Brumfield, bringing expertise as a former chief of staff for Carlyle Airport Group Holdings and was the president/CEO of the Airport Minority Advisory Council and the VP and chief operating officer of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, Tax, and Procurement Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will provide leadership as the associate administrator of the Office of Government-Wide Policy.