Lisa Gelobter has become New York City’s latest chief technology officer (CTO), according to a statement from Mayor Zohran Mamdani. She also takes over as commissioner of the city’s Office of Technology and Innovation.
In early January, Matthew Fraser stepped down as New York City’s CTO as the new administration began.
Gelobter has played a big role in the daily tech lives of people even if they are unfamiliar with her name.
For starters, while working for Macromedia in the late 1990s, she invented what become Adobe Shockwave, a now discontinued multimedia platform that helped birth GIFs.
She was hailed Tuesday as a “groundbreaking computer scientist” by the New York Times for what the paper described as “leading the team that developed the animation technology used to create GIFs.”
Gelobter also worked as part of the launch team for Hulu, according to her LinkedIn. The streaming service reportedly has more than 53 million U.S. subscribers and commands more than 10 percent of the country’s streaming market.
Most recently, she served as CEO and founder of tEQuitable. It helps clients “identify and address systemic workplace culture issues and uses technology to make workplaces more equitable,” according to the Mamdani statement.
Her experience in tech, stretching back more than 35 years, also includes working as chief digital service officer for the U.S. Department of Education under the Obama administration; interim chief digital officer and digital product head for Black Entertainment Television; and vice president of business operations for global web video service Joost.
During her job at the Department of Education, she led the launch of College Scorecard, which she described on LinkedIn as “a cloud-based, open source, consumer web app and open data API.”
She said work was completed in less than three months.
According to the statement, Gelobter is among the first 40 Black women who have raised more than $1 million in venture capital — in her case, funding that mainly went to online and associated operations.
Gelobter’s family has significant political experience in New York.
That’s because her father was campaign manager for Shirley Chisholm, who represented parts of Brooklyn as the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress and who, in 1972, became the first woman — Black or otherwise — to seek the Democratic nomination for president.
Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, has been relatively mum on his tech plans but this appointment provides an idea of his priorities.
Gelobter’s new job gives her oversight of New York City’s “technology infrastructure, cyber security efforts and data management initiatives,” according to the statement, adding that she will use tech to widen access to city services and boost digital equity — efforts that predate the Jan. 1 inauguration of Mamdani.
“Technology impacts how people experience government every day — from accessing services to trusting that systems work fairly and responsibly,” Gelobter said in the statement. “As CTO and commissioner, my focus will be on using technology in service of the public good: improving delivery, strengthening accountability and ensuring innovation reflects the needs of all New Yorkers.”
