California Governor-elect Gavin Newsom is moving swiftly to appoint senior members of his administration. As many expected, the first announcements came this afternoon, with Newsom naming Ann O’Leary as his chief of staff and Ana Matosantos as his cabinet secretary. Ann O’Leary has broad federal executive and legislative branch experience from her service in the Clinton Administration as a special assistant to the president and as legislative director to Senator Hillary Clinton. She also has significant national political experience as the political director of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign. Ms. O’Leary is widely respected as an advocate for early childhood education, a top priority of Governor-elect Newsom, and as a leader in using the law to combat workplace sexual harassment. She is a Boalt Hall graduate and is currently a partner in the Palo Alto office of Boies Schiller Flexner.
Ms. Matosantos served both Governor Schwarzenegger and Governor Brown as the director of the California Department of Finance, a position that is critical to any administration. It was even more important during her term as Governor Brown’s finance director, as she worked to help the state recover from the Great Recession. She also has long experience in healthcare policy and finance, having served as an assembly health budget consultant and as undersecretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. In 2016, Ms. Matosantos was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board, further burnishing her well-earned reputation as a leader on public finance. She will be leaving her successful Sacramento government relations and fiscal consulting practice to accept her new position.