Governor Announces Administration Appointments

September 9th, 2019

• Kumiki Gibson Counsel to the Governor – Originally from Buffalo, Ms. Gibson brings to the Executive Chamber extensive legal experience, working at the highest levels of government, including over two years as Counsel and three years as Associate Counsel to Vice President Al Gore. Previously, Ms. Gibson has served as Senior Vice President and Counselor to the President at the National Urban League; Commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights; Vice President and General Counsel at Johns Hopkins University; a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly; and a prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Most recently, she served as Senior Advisor and General Counsel for the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation.

• Elizabeth Garvey Special Counsel and Senior Advisor to the Governor – In this role, Ms. Garvey will be the counsel responsible for the Governor’s budget, legislative and policy priorities. Since January 2018, Ms. Garvey has served as Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs and General Counsel for the State University of New York. She served on the Chancellor’s Cabinet as the legal adviser to the SUNY System Administration and provided legal advice and opinions for the Board of Trustees, Chancellor, and leadership. Prior to her position at SUNY, Ms. Garvey served as Counsel for the New York State Senate Majority, managing the team of legal and support staff responsible for the legal and policy review of all legislation before the Senate. Prior to that, she served as First Assistant Counsel to the Majority for the New York State Senate, and also held the role of Assistant Counsel to the Majority.

• Jim McDonough Director of the Division of Veterans’ Services – Mr. McDonough previously served as the Director of the New York State Division of Veterans’ Affairs from 2007 to 2010 where he was responsible for providing quality services and benefits to the nearly one-million veterans and families across the state. Mr. McDonough will continue to serve the Governor as the primary advocate for all veterans issues affecting access to federal, state, and local benefits and programs. Prior to joining the administration, he served as the Managing Director of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University. Prior to that, he served as a Senior Fellow for Veterans Affairs at the New York State Health Foundation and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester. In addition to his civilian professional career, Mr. McDonough has served in key military assignments, including as a Senior Operations Officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom; a Battalion Commander in the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment; a Joint Operations Officer for the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C.; an Operations Officer and Executive Officer for the 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment; and as a speechwriter to the Secretary of the Army. McDonough retired as a Colonel in 2007.

• Jesse Campoamor Deputy Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs – Previously, he served as Director of Community Affairs in the Office of the New York City Comptroller and as Political Organizer for 1199SEIU, New York, where he co-founded the “Purple Gold” program meant to develop the next generation of leaders in the labor movement. He received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from Lafayette College.

• Simonida Subotic Deputy Secretary for Economic Development – Most recently she served as a Principal for the Boston Consulting Group where she was responsible for leading business development efforts, managing teams, and advising both public and private sector clients. Previously, in addition to consulting roles at the World Bank Group and the United Nations, she also served as a Director of Operations at Codecademy.

• Jeremy Shockett Deputy Secretary for Public Safety – Previously, Mr. Shockett served as the First Deputy Chief of the Trial Division for the King’s County District Attorney’s Office, where he supervised over 400 attorneys and their chiefs across 11 bureaus covering Homicide, Trial Zones, Domestic Violence, Sex Crimes, Vehicular Crimes, Human Trafficking and Hate Crimes. Prior to that, he served as an Executive Assistant District Attorney and an Assistant District Attorney for the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office, as well as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

• Matthew Saal Senior Advisor for Communications – Previously, Mr. Saal worked for four years as Creator and Executive Producer at Bloomberg LP where he produced “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations,” which featured behind the headlines interviews with top newsmakers including Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Prior to that, he served for seven years as Creator and Executive Producer at MSNBC where he created and executive produced primetime live television shows including “The Rachel Maddow Show,” “Politics Nation” and “Verdict with Dan Abrams.” He has also served as Senior Broadcast Producer at NBC News on “Weekend Nightly News with Lester Holt.”

• Colleen Curtis Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Social Media – More recently, she served as Senior Vice President for Consumer, Social and Digital Publicity at Starz Entertainment and the Director of Digital Content at the Executive Office of the President under President Obama where she managed oversight and content for multiple online platforms. Ms. Curtis previously served as Editorial Director of Women’s & Lifestyle Programming at AOL, where she launched 15 websites that reached more than 20 million Americans each month. In addition, Curtis has held numerous leadership roles in media in the United States and overseas, including senior editorial positions at ABC’s Good Morning America, the New York Daily News, and the National Post.

• Jeremy M. Goldberg Deputy Secretary for Technology and Innovation for the State of New York – Most recently, Jeremy served as Deputy CTO and Managing Director of NYCx in the New York City Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (MOCTO). He led the successful creation of an award-winning portfolio of initiatives that focuses on bold ideas and breakthroughs in the way we interact with and influence emerging technologies for the public good. During his time in San Francisco, he served as Director of Civic Innovation Partnerships in the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation, where he led the growth of Startup-in-Residence, a 16-week program that connects government departments with startups to address critical needs via innovative products and services, and Civic Bridge, public private partnership program that enlists pro-bono private sector volunteers to work on critical city issues alongside city staff. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Civic Innovation in San Jose, California.

• Edgar Santana Director of Downstate Regional Affairs – Mr. Santana previously served as Director of Political and Governmental Affairs for the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund. He previously worked as the Construction Marketing Representative for the Eastern Region Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust. Earlier in his career, Mr. Santana was the Deputy Executive Director for the New York State Democratic Committee and the Northeast Political Director for Hillary Clinton for President. Mr. Santana also formerly served as a Trustee for the Yonkers Board of Education and is Co-Chair of the Westchester County Census 2020 Complete Count Committee.

• Brandon Hicks Director of African American Affairs – Most recently, he served as the National Organizer for the National Action Network where he developed a national campaign to advance special prosecutor legislation and organized diverse campaigns surrounding police brutality, marijuana legalization and criminal justice reform.

• Maria LoGiudice Assistant Deputy Secretary for Public Safety – She previously served as the Managing Director of Budget and Fiscal Studies for the New York State Senate Finance Committee focusing on financial analysis surrounding public protection, including corrections, criminal justice services, homeland security and emergency services, State Police, victim services and local government issues.

• Molly Reilly Assistant Secretary for Upstate Intergovernmental Affairs – Ms. Reilly most recently served as the Mayor of Sackets Harbor for two years. She also served as a professional educator, during which time Governor Cuomo selected her as an Empire State Excellence in Teaching Awardee.