Connecticut State Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development

Meet the DECD Leadership Team

   

Daniel H. O'Keefe

Commissioner, Department of Economic and Community Development
Chief Innovation Officer, State of CT

Dan was nominated as Commissioner of Economic Development by Governor Ned Lamont in November 2023. He has also served as the State’s first Chief Innovation Officer since July 2023.

Prior to public service, Dan was a technology investor for 25 years, most recently as a Managing Partner of Apax Partners, a global investment firm.

Dan serves on a number of civic and nonprofit boards, including the Board of Trustees at the University of Connecticut and at Brown University, the Board of Regents at CSCU, Vice Chair of Connecticut Innovations, Treasurer at AdvanceCT, and as Chairman Emeritus of the Opportunity Network, an education focused nonprofit. 

Dan holds an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School, where he served as President of its Alumni Board, and an AB from Brown University, where he served as Class President.

Click to review Dan's "State of the State" presentation.

 

Kirti D. Patel

Deputy Commissioner, Economic Development
Chief Manufacturing Officer, State of CT

Kirti was named Deputy Commissioner in March 2026. He has also served as the State’s Chief Manufacturing Officer since September 2025.

Kirti Patel is a seasoned business leader with 25+ years of global experience in technology development and advanced manufacturing across the life sciences, medical imaging & devices, and semiconductor industries.


He previously served as President & CEO of Eppendorf Manufacturing Corporation (Enfield, CT) and as General Manager/VP of Siemens Preclinical Molecular Imaging (Knoxville, TN). He also co-founded Sensant Corporation, a medical device company, later acquired by Siemens Healthcare (San Francisco, CA). Kirti began his career at Intel (San Jose, CA), working in high-tech microprocessor lithography process development & manufacturing.

Kirti holds an MBA from the Wharton School, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, an MS in Chemical Engineering from University of California-Davis, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Mangalore University (India).

 

 

Matthew J. Pugliese, Deputy Commissioner

Matthew J. Pugliese was named Deputy Commissioner and Chief Investment Officer of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) on January 1, 2024. In this role he oversees all real estate, capital project, brownfield and community development initiatives and compliance activities of the department. 

Previously, he served as DECD’s Executive Director of Community Development where he managed multiple state grant programs supporting a diverse range of capital projects. Matt joined the department in 2022 to help launch the Community Investment Fund 2030 program, an $875 million-dollar, five-year program fostering economic and community development in historically underserved communities across the state. 

Prior to joining DECD, Matt served as the Associate State Director of the Connecticut Small Business Development Center and held leadership positions in higher education at UConn and nonprofit organizations. Matt currently serves on the Town of Old Saybrook’s Board of Selectmen and is a past chair of the town’s Economic Development Commission.  He earned his Masters in Public Administration from the UConn School of Public Policy and bachelor’s degree from the UConn School of Fine Arts.