BOSTON — Yvonne Hao of Williamstown has been named as secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development and Jason Snyder as secretary of the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security. 

 

The appointments were made by Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll prior their swearing in on Thursday. 

 

Hao will be the first woman and person of color to lead the state's chief economic development agency. She has had more than 25 years of executive business experience as a senior executive, including as co-founder, advisor and managing director at investment firm Cove Hill Partners and as an operating partner at Pillar Ventures. Previously, she was the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of PillPack, an online pharmacy that was acquired by Amazon in 2018. She is also a former operating partner at Bain Capital. 

 

"Massachusetts is a national leader in the innovation economy, and the next secretary of economic development has an opportunity to not only maintain that leadership role, but also grow our economic competitiveness," said Hao. "I'm honored that Governor-elect Healey and Lieutenant Governor-elect Driscoll have placed their faith in me to capitalize on this moment, support our businesses and expand economic opportunities in every region of the state."

 

In addition, Hao has been a board director of companies such as CarGurus, Flywire, Gentherm, ZipRecruiter, and Bose. She also has been involved in the community, is the vice chair of the board of trustees of Beth Israel Lahey Health, and a trustee emeriti of her alma mater, Williams College. She lives in Williamstown and Cambridge, and is also a graduate of the University of Cambridge.

 

"Massachusetts is home to so many innovative businesses that are the backbone of our economy – and we have limitless potential to unlock them in the years ahead," said Healey. "Yvonne Hao has a proven record of growing businesses and turning ideas into results. We can count on her to drive Massachusetts' economic competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship."

 

Healey pledged to separate the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development into two separate secretariats, creating a new position of secretary of housing. 

 

Jason Snyder is currently the chief technology officer at Harvard University. He has more than 30 years of information technology experience in government, higher education and the private sector. He has worked at Harvard for almost 10 years, as a program director for identity and access management, as managing director of architecture and engineering, and as chief technology officer since 2015. He was chief technology of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the duration of Gov. Deval Patrick's tenure, and prior to that spent 13 years in the private sector at CSC Consulting Group. He's a graduate of Rensselaer (N.Y.) Polytechnic Institute and lives in Reading.

 

"Jason has decades of experience building strong teams and implementing best technology practices in government, in higher education and in the private sector," said Healey. "We're confident that he will make sure the commonwealth's digital information is high quality and secure, and that the people of Massachusetts have access to the services they need."

 

"The commonwealth of Massachusetts does incredible work day in and day out to deliver critical services to residents, but we need to make sure that everyone is able to access those services," said Snyder. "I'm honored to have the opportunity to serve in the Healey-Driscoll Administration and look forward to the work ahead to make sure that our technology is resilient, secure and accessible to all."