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| Paul Mounds was appointed today by Governor Ned Lamont to serve as chief of staff. [Download in high quality] |
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is appointing Paul Mounds to serve as his chief of staff. In addition, he has selected Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Commissioner Josh Geballe to fill the position of chief operating officer, the role that is currently held by Mounds.
Mounds will succeed Ryan Drajewicz as chief of staff. Drajewicz is departing the administration as part of a planned transition. When he assumed the role at the beginning of the Lamont administration, he agreed to serve for one year.
“Paul is incredibly talented and one of the hardest working people with whom I’ve had the opportunity to work, and I am excited to have him serving in this new capacity and helping to guide our administration in our efforts to grow our economy, add jobs, streamline government, and stay true to our core mission of serving the people of Connecticut,” Governor Lamont said, noting that Mounds will become the first African American to serve as chief of staff to a Connecticut governor. “I appreciate Ryan’s dedication and service to our state. He has been an important partner as we began our administration and I thank him for being a partner in our efforts to lead our office.”
Mounds has served as the state’s chief operating officer since the beginning of the Lamont administration in January 2019. Prior to joining the governor’s office, Mounds was vice president of policy and communications for the Connecticut Health Foundation, where he was responsible for the foundation’s work to inform and educate policymakers on issues related to health equity, as well as its policy and communications activities. He also served as senior director of public policy and government relations for Governor Dannel P. Malloy, during which he managed public policy development and the legislative program for the administration. He also previously worked for U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal as deputy state director for outreach, and began his career in public service as the federal grants coordinator and press assistant, and eventually communications director for Congressman John B. Larson.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Trinity College. He was born in Hartford, raised in East Hartford, and lives in Glastonbury.
“Serving in Governor Lamont’s administration has given me an opportunity to give back to the state in which I was raised and continue to call home,” Mounds said. “I am honored by the governor’s confidence in me and believe that working collaboratively, we can bring about the effective changes that will make Connecticut stronger and in a better position for the next generation.”
Since being appointed commissioner of DAS – the state agency that functions as the backbone of government operations – Geballe has been working to identify and implement initiatives to modernize, streamline and improve the quality of state government services. Along with Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw, Geballe has been laying the groundwork to utilize this the upcoming wave of anticipated state employee retirements as an impetus to redesign government to operate more efficiently and utilize 21st century technologies to their maximum capacity, with the goal of allowing residents and businesses to have more seamless interactions with state government while producing cost savings for taxpayers.
As this is a top initiative of Governor Lamont, Geballe will begin the next phase of this preparedness directly from within the governor’s office. In his new capacity as chief operating officer, all executive branch departments will report to Geballe, and he will maintain the responsibilities as commissioner of DAS.
“It is an honor to be part of the amazing team of commissioners that Governor Lamont has assembled,” Geballe said. “I look forward to working even more closely with them to drive our state forward.”
Prior to joining state government in March 2019, Geballe worked for 18 years in the technology industry as a business executive, investor, advisor, and teacher. He was most recently vice president and general manager of digital science at Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global scientific technology company. His business unit provided a cloud-based software platform that helped scientists generate insights that improve human health and quality of life, and helped lead the company’s overall digital strategy. He joined Thermo Fisher when it acquired his software company, Core Informatics, LLC in 2017. As CEO, he led that company through a period of substantial growth, investment, and value creation for its stakeholders. Under Geballe’s leadership, the company was recognized multiple times as one of Connecticut’s fastest growing companies and best places to work. Geballe joined Core Informatics in 2013 after 11 years working at IBM, where he held multiple international executive roles spanning general management, finance, and strategy.
Geballe holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, where he has also served as a visiting lecturer, and a BA from Yale University. Born and raised in Branford, Geballe lives in Guilford.