Amy Tong
Amy Tong was appointed Secretary of Government Operations by Governor Gavin Newsom in March of 2022, elevated from her previous role as the State’s Chief Information Officer and Director of the California Department of Technology.
She is a first-generation immigrant who came to the U.S. from China in 1986 with just eight suitcases. She relied on public services to acclimate to California, an experience that drives her commitment to working as a public servant today.
Her two-decade-plus career in state service began when she started with the State of California as an entry-level programmer at the State Water Resources Control Board. From there, she rose to positions of greater responsibility in six state agencies, ultimately being appointed to Administration leadership roles.
Prior to becoming Secretary, Tong led critical round-the-clock technology projects during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide information and data, including systems for monitoring hospital capacity, public health reporting, remote learning, telework, vaccination and wildfire response. During the emergency she guided efforts to build more than 40 new technology tools and make critical repairs to legacy systems.
As the Secretary of Government Operations, Tong is focused on transforming state government through innovation.
A champion of user-centered design, Secretary Tong has led efforts to modernize the State’s project delivery, technology procurement, cloud smart adoption, open data, workforce development pipeline and cybersecurity measures. Throughout her 25-year-plus career in state government, she has been a champion of data–driven decision making and has constantly looked to utilize new, cost-effective technologies for the benefit of California residents.
In addition to her leadership roles in state government, Tong volunteers as a member of the California Northstate University Board of Trustees, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Asian Pacific State Employee Association and as National Senior Advisor for Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association.
Secretary Tong holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento.
Topics
#california #change #cio #covid #organizationalchange #peopleEpisodes
63 - Inspiring IT Cultural Change
Darren Pulsipher, Chief Solution Architect, Intel, discusses inspiring cultural change with Amy Tong, CIO of the state of California, in the wake of the COVID pandemic.