Yvonne Hao. Courtesy photo

The day before she is to be sworn into office, Gov.-elect Maura Healey continued to build out her Cabinet by naming Yvonne Hao as her secretary of economic development and Jason Snyder as her secretary of technology services and security.

Hao co-founded and held top roles at the investment firm Cove Hill Partners and was an operating partner at Pillar Ventures, Healey’s announcement said. She also served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer for PillPack, an online pharmacy that was acquired by Amazon in 2018, and previously worked at Bain Capital.

“Massachusetts is a national leader in the innovation economy, and the next Secretary of Economic Development has an opportunity to not only maintain that leadership role, but also grow our economic competitiveness,” Hao said.

Healey plans to split the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development into two distinct Cabinet posts, and on Wednesday said that Hao will be the first woman and person of color to lead the state’s chief economic development agency. Healey made housing a major platform of her campaign but has not yet named her secretary of housing.

Snyder has spent about 10 years at Harvard University, currently as its chief technology officer, but he is familiar with state government — he was chief technology officer for Massachusetts during Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration, the Healey team said.

Gov. Charlie Baker in 2017 created the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (and corresponding Cabinet secretary position) based on the former Massachusetts Office of Information Technology.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts does incredible work day in and day out to deliver critical services to residents, but we need to make sure that everyone is able to access those services,” Snyder said. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve in the Healey-Driscoll Administration and look forward to the work ahead to make sure that our technology is resilient, secure and accessible to all.”

Healey has still not fleshed out her entire Cabinet and major posts are still unfilled, including the positions overseeing health and human services, public safety and security, housing, and labor and workforce development.

Healey Names Economic Development Secretary

by State House News Service time to read: 1 min
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