Summary
The five state agencies in the Administration secretariat manage the Commonwealth’s buildings and grounds, administer employee policies and benefits, oversee elections, safeguard human rights, work to improve manager-employee relations in state government, direct state funds to constitutional officers, and oversee the Commonwealth’s information technology.
Grindly Johnson currently serves as Secretary of Administration for the Commonwealth of Virginia. In her role, she oversees the Compensation Board, the Department of Elections, the Department of General Services, the Department of Human Resource Management, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and the Office of the Chief Data Officer.
OnAir Post: Secretary of Administration
About
Grindly Johnson, Secretary of Administration
Previously, Grindly Johnson served as Deputy Secretary of Administration since January 2018 and before that, served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation in the McAuliffe Administration, where she led the effort to establish a first-in-the-nation sustainable toll relief program, for which she has won numerous awards. She also served as Chief of Administration for the Virginia Department of Transportation, the third largest transportation agency in the nation, where she directed the divisions of Communications, Civil Rights, Human Resources and Training, Administrative Services, and Safety and Performance Management.
Prior to that, Grindly served as the agency’s Chief of Equal Business and Employee Opportunity and held a number of private sector positions, including as an accountant, financial analyst, and community relations consultant. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Norfolk State University.
Carlos Rivero, Chief Data Officer
Carlos Rivero is the Chief Data Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to his appointment, Rivero served as Chief Data Officer and Chief Enterprise Architect for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration in Washington, D.C. Rivero has also worked at the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami, Florida, as a physical scientist and as a Research Associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, where he developed a passion for geospatial information systems, ecological modeling, and data.
Rivero earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies from Florida International University and a Master of Science in Business Intelligence and Analytics from Saint Joseph’s University, focusing on database design, data management, business intelligence, big data, and data analytics.
Asif Bhavnagri, Assistant Secretary of Administration
Asif Bhavnagri has been appointed Assistant Secretary of Administration. He most recently served as Policy Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, a position he held since 2016. He also served as a Press Assistant in Governor McAuliffe’s Communications Office. A native of Richmond, Asif is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University where he studied Political Science and African American Studies. He also worked as an intern in the Virginia General Assembly, assisting members of the House of Delegates on a variety of issues from healthcare to education.
Contact
Email: Taylor A. O’Sullivan
Locations
Office of the Secretary of Administration
Patrick Henry Building
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: (804) 225-4501
Web Links
Departments
Department of General Services
Source: Website
The Department of General Services is an intra-governmental service organization that administers the capital outlay budget; it provides services to state agencies and local government such as procurement and fleet services.
Department of Human Resource Management
Source: Website
The Department of Human Resource Management is the central state agency responsible for administering, developing, and overseeing the state’s human resource management system. Areas specifically included are: compensation and policy, equal employment, health benefits, workers’ compensation, employee information, and training.
Department of Elections
Source: Website
The Department of Elections coordinates and supervises the work of local electoral boards, registrars, and election officials to obtain uniformity in practices and proceedings in all elections.
Virginia Information Technologies Agency
Source: Website
The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) is the Commonwealth’s consolidated information technology organization. VITA supports the Commonwealth by providing cybersecurity, IT infrastructure services and IT governance to state agencies and institutions of higher education.
Compensation Board
Source: Website
The Compensation Board reviews and approves annual budgets submitted by constitutional officers and reimburses localities for the state’s share of authorized salaries and expenses of constitutional officers and their employees.
