Crowe was selected to serve as interim CITO in February; she was made permanent later the same month, according to an email from the city’s Chief Communications Officer Sarah Johnson. Crowe first joined the city in August 2022 as director of quality control and performance management, which was renamed as the Office of Urban Analytics and Innovation.
Her predecessor as CITO was Stephanie Wernet, who was named in 2024 following an expansion of the CITO’s responsibilities earlier that year — and who resigned Jan. 29.
Crowe’s work with the city has been focused on leading analytics efforts to improve Cleveland government operations, including communications with the public through 311. Data governance has been Cleveland priority in recent years, with one significant achievement being the 2024 launch of its open data portal — intended to “empower Clevelanders to actively participate in shaping the future of our city,” Crowe said in a statement at the time.
When Crowe became interim CITO, Assistant Director of Urban AI Doug Miel began serving as its interim director. In March, Renee Raffalli was named permanent director of Urban AI, Johnson said. Raffalli, a seasoned hand in area government with more than a decade combined at Cuyahoga County and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, had most recently worked on the city’s Urban AI team as a manager for innovation and process improvement.
“I’m looking forward to serving our team and the community in this new capacity,” Raffalli said in a post on LinkedIn.
