Blog Posts

Office of Data Governance and Analytics Announces New Interim CDO

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

The Office of Data Governance and Analytics has some big news - we have a new interim CDO! 

Carlos Rivero has been the Chief Data Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia since August of 2018. Since then, he has established the Office of Data Governance and Analytics within the Secretary of Administration consisting of 12 outstanding individuals helping Virginia guide the evolution of data from information to intelligence. Rivero has led the team alongside Marcus Thornton, the Deputy CDO to bring data governance to the Commonwealth.

Carlos Rivero will be informally retiring from public service on November 24th, 2021. He has worked in both federal and state government for 20 years and has thoroughly enjoyed every minute. His favorite part about his career is creating actionable intelligence and better outcomes for the people he is serving. He is passing this torch to Thornton to continue to be a valuable resource to Virginians. 

Rivero is looking forward to spending some much needed time with his family over the remainder of 2021. We are cheering him on from the Office of Data Governance and Analytics, and are eagerly awaiting to see what is next for him! 

Marcus Thornton as Interim CDO

Marcus Thornton will be operating as Interim CDO for the remainder of 2021. He is looking forward to carrying on the mission of the Office of Data Governance and Analytics. 

Thornton has been a part of the ODGA team since September 2020 and leads a team of 8 data professionals in an operational capacity. As the Deputy CDO, he worked to operationalize and add more efficiencies to the ODGA data onboarding process, expand data-sharing platform to include more agencies and organizations within the Commonwealth, display the power of data within the Commonwealth through intelligence reporting and analytics, and provide a standard for data governance. As interim CDO, he will be the face of the Office of Data Governance and Analytics and continue to build relationships with agencies, organizations, vendors, and other stakeholders in the Commonwealth.