(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor-elect Ned Lamont today announced that he has selected Paul Mounds Jr. to fill the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the Office of the Governor.
Mounds, who will report to the Chief of Staff, will oversee all agency commissioners and work with them to translate the governor-elect’s strategic agenda into operational initiatives. Mounds will also drive cross-agency collaboration and ensure effective agency operations, working with commissioners to create performance metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) against which success will be measured. Thirty-seven states have a Chief Operating Officer or similar role.
“Paul is a relationship builder and someone who understands how the executive branch agencies can best be leveraged to create lasting and impactful change on behalf of the people of Connecticut,” said Lamont. “I welcome Paul back into state service and look forward to working closely with him, particularly as we build our our agency leadership teams and take on the challenge of building a more efficient, responsive government.”
Paul Mounds Jr. is vice president of policy and communications for the Connecticut Health Foundation, where he is responsible for the foundation’s work to inform and educate policymakers on issues related to health equity, as well as the foundation’s policy and communications activities. Mounds served as senior director of public policy and government relations for Gov. Malloy, where he managed public policy development and the legislative program for the Governor’s Office and the State's Executive Branch agencies. He previously worked for U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, serving as deputy state director for outreach. He began his career in public service as the federal grants coordinator and press assistant for U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, eventually serving as his communications director. Mounds serves as a Commissioner on the Connecticut Judicial Selection Commission and on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. He also formerly served on Trinity College’s Board of Trustees and on the State of Connecticut's Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth. Mounds received his B.A. in political science from Trinity College. He was born in Hartford, raised in East Hartford, and resides in Glastonbury with his wife Samaia Hernandez Mounds and their son, Paul Curtis.
“I am honored to join Governor-elect Lamont’s administration and look forward to working collaboratively with agency commissioners and their teams to implement programs that will help support businesses and Connecticut citizens alike,” said Mounds. “In particular, using metrics and data to measure success will allow us to evaluate programmatic effectiveness on behalf of taxpayers.”