Latest news with #personnelchanges
Geek Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Tech Moves: Smartsheet adds to C-suite; Gradial and Zeno Power name senior leadership
Tech Moves covers notable hires, promotions and personnel changes in the Pacific NW tech community. Submissions: tips@ Stephanie Berner. (LinkedIn Photo) — Smartsheet's leadership shakeup continues with the appointment of Stephanie Berner as its new chief customer officer. Berner comes to the Bellevue, Wash.-based enterprise software giant from Atlassian, where she served as senior vice president. Berner has also held leadership roles in customer success at LinkedIn, Box and elsewhere. Last week Smartsheet disclosed that long-time CEO Mark Mader is leaving his post while Sunny Gupta steps in as acting CEO. The company also recently named named Tony Giannino as director of security and compliance. '[Berner's] experience in the work management market, proven track record and deep understanding of the B2B SaaS customer journey will be key as we enter a new era of AI-driven innovation,' Gupta said in a statement. — Gradial, a Seattle startup using AI agents to help marketing operations teams increase productivity, has added three new members to its senior leadership: Vikas Kamran joins as president. Kamran was founder and CEO of Revel for nearly 14 years. Infogain acquired Revel in 2020 and Kamran transitioned to chief digital officer for the company. joins as president. Kamran was founder and CEO of Revel for nearly 14 years. Infogain acquired Revel in 2020 and Kamran transitioned to chief digital officer for the company. Richard Rocca is vice president of sales and comes to the role from Adobe, where he worked for more than a decade. is vice president of sales and comes to the role from Adobe, where he worked for more than a decade. Chelsea Halliday is now head of marketing. Halliday has held marketing leadership roles for companies including Zillow Group, Vercel and MongoDB. A.C. Charania. (LinkedIn Photo) — Zeno Power, a Seattle startup developing nuclear-powered batteries, hired A.C. Charania as senior vice president of space business development. The company, which is co-located in Washington, D.C., announced $50 million of new funding in May. Charania was most recently chief technologist at NASA and has 25 years of experience in aerospace innovation in the public and private sectors. At Zeno Power, Charania will lead the company's pursuit of deals with NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and commercial companies. Charania was also with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, leaving the role of lunar campaign director. — Longtime Seattle-area investor Brianna McDonald has joined the board of directors at the Angel Capital Association. This spring, McDonald became CEO of a new organization called Ecosystem Venture Group, which blends startup investment funds with services for entrepreneurs and investors. Phil Levin. (UW Photo) — Phil Levin is stepping in as interim director of the University of Washington's EarthLab, an institute that spans multiple colleges and departments. Levin is a conservation scientist, professor in the UW's College of the Environment, and lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy of Washington. '[T]he challenges we face are enormous. Climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental injustice — none of these have quick fixes. But I've never believed our job is to be optimistic. Our job is to be honest, brave, and imaginative,' Levin said in announcing his new role. Levin succeeds Ben Packard, who served as the inaugural Harriet Bullitt Endowed executive director of EarthLab beginning in 2017. Packard had previous leadership roles at The Nature Conservancy and Starbucks. — Lauren Olson, former director of fund management at the Seattle-based investment firm Breakwater Ventures, is now the fund operations manager at betaworks in New York. Betaworks this summer announced the close of a $66 million fund to invest in pre-seed and seed state startups. Olson previously worked for the SeaChange Fund and Madrona Venture Group. — Will Daughterty, president and CEO of Seattle's Pacific Science Center, joined the board of trustees for PCC Community Markets (PCC). The long-time retail grocery cooperative has also hired Amy Chow as the co-op's new chief financial officer. Chow was previously with the high-end kitchen and cookware store Sur La Table.
CBS News
06-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Denver proposes sweeping personnel changes to deal with 2026 deficit: "Like betrayal," says one city worker
The executive director of Denver's Office of Human Resources, Kathy Nesbitt, said Thursday the city's projected $200 million deficit in 2026 would likely mean "hundreds" of city workers will be laid off, necessitating dramatic changes in some city personnel rules. CBS The estimate of "hundreds" of workers being cut from their jobs marked the first time the city has provided a firm estimate of the number of layoffs the city will have to implement. Nesbitt has also unveiled proposed changes to a city personnel rule that provided job protection and seniority privileges for long term city workers. Career Service Rule 14 provided job protection for workers based on their years of service, and allowed them to move to other city positions if their position was cut. Nesbitt's proposed changes -- which are supported by Mayor Mike Johnston -- would do away with those protections and make it easier to lay off longer term city workers. "I will tell you," said Nesbitt, "I wouldn't be looking at this right now but for the budget deficit we are facing for 2026." Her agency said the proposed rule revisions are to make sure layoffs "are implemented in a more streamlined manner that is consistent with the merit-based career service personnel system ... The impact will be that layoffs will now be determined solely on performance instead of a combination of seniority and performance." The proposed changes will be the subject of a hearing June 18. "It does feel like a betrayal," said one veteran city worker, who asked their identity be concealed for fear of reprisals. "I think that it is a huge disservice to people who have dedicated their careers to the city. This is dismantling not only the seniority system but the right to be reinstated if you are laid off," said the city worker. Denver City Councilmember Amanda Sawyer said of the proposed rule changes, "I'm not thrilled about it but I think they're doing what has to be done." "Layoffs are hard. Changing rule 14 midstream feels like adding insult to injury for our staff. But it needs to be done," said Sawyer. It's unclear precisely how many city workers might be potentially impacted by the rule change, but the Office of Human Resources said the majority of current city workers had been hired in the last 10 years. Nesbitt said by Thursday afternoon, her office had started hearing from city workers about the proposed changes. "I would say about 75% are dissatisfied," said Nesbitt, who agreed the potential change likely feels "earth-shattering" for some city employees. The city has about 10,000 workers covered by career service rules.
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
White House dismisses scores of National Security Council staff
Scores of staffers at the White House National Security Council were abruptly dismissed on Friday, as the Trump administration moved to dramatically downsize the coordinating body, according to people familiar with the matter. The staff sent home included both career officials who were detailed to the NSC as well as some political appointees, these people said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel issue.
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
US justice department asks civil rights division attorneys to stay after mass exits
Justice department officials have asked civil rights division attorneys to reconsider their decision to leave the department in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign that the agency may have been caught off-guard by the wave of personnel leaving. Officials have also asked attorneys, including career managers, who were involuntarily detailed to low-level offices last month, if they would consider returning to their sections to handle civil rights work, the people said. The attorneys were removed in late April in what was widely understood as an effort to force them to accept a paid offer to leave the department. Leadership had also encouraged employees to accept the paid offer to leave. As a 28 April deadline approached for accepting the paid leave offer, Michael Gates, a political appointee in the civil rights division, told section chiefs there would be a 'tightening of the belt' moving forward, a person familiar with the matter said. More than 250 civil rights division attorneys have left since January or are planning to leave, an approximate 70% reduction in the division's personnel. It's unclear how many attorneys were asked to stay and how many, if any, accepted. The Guardian has confirmed that the request was made at least of attorneys in the educational opportunities section, which enforces anti-discrimination law in schools. Many of the Trump administration's priorities, including challenging DEI programs, investigating allegations of anti-semitism on campuses, and limiting the rights of transgender people fall under the purview of the section. Also uncertain is how many lawyers were asked to consider returning to their sections, but some have accepted and returned, according to the people familiar, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. An email also went out on Monday asking attorneys in the housing and civil enforcement section to volunteer in the sections enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws in voting and employment, according a person who had seen the message and described it to the Guardian. If not enough people volunteer, the email said three people would be assigned. While justice department leadership has cheered departures from the civil rights division, the recent requests suggest the agency may be scrambling to find attorneys to work on the matters the Trump administration wants to prioritize, including investigations into allegations of antisemitism on college campuses, protecting white people from discrimination, and limiting the rights of transgender people. The new missions are a radical departure from the longstanding focus of the civil rights division, which started in 1957 to enforce federal civil rights laws to protect minorities and marginalized groups. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'In addition to treating the civil rights division staff with complete disrespect, they're also utterly incompetent,' said Stacey Young, who started Justice Connection, a group for department alumni, earlier this year after quitting the agency. 'They drove people out and only after the fact seem to have realized that that was a terrible idea.' The justice department did not return a request for comment. Harmeet Dhillon, a Donald Trump ally who leads the civil rights division, has celebrated the departures. 'Over 100 attorneys decided that they'd rather not do what their job requires them to do, and I think that's fine,' she said in a 26 April interview on conservative commentator Glenn Beck's podcast. She also has said she has 'more applicants than I can possibly hire right now'. Young said that justice department job postings must be publicly advertised and that the department currently had none posted for the civil rights division. 'Where are these applicants coming from?' she said.
