A variety of staff changes are underway in Gov. Tina Kotek’s office.

• Kenneth LeDell joins the staff next week as senior behavioral health adviser. He is an attorney with the Metropolitan Public Defender’s Office and was managing attorney at Disability Rights Oregon, focusing on mental health rights.

• Kristina Rice-Whitlow accepted the permanent position as Department of Corrections ombudsperson, effective March 3. She handled that role on an interim basis while also being Kotek’s constituent services director.

• Andrea Hanson left Kotek’s natural resources team to work for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. She came to the governor’s staff last year after nearly 17 years with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

• Ami Goswami was hired as community engagement manager, which is part of the equity and racial justice team.

• Naomi Allen joined Kotek’s scheduling team as executive assistant.

• Erika Fernandez is the new front desk assistant. She took on the duties held by Robert Miller, who moved into a new role as travel and IT coordinator. 

• Pech Sakhan, the new constituent services specialist, previously worked in Sen. Ron Wyden’s Portland office as a special assistant and intern.

Berri Leslie, the state’s top bureaucrat and key aide to Gov. Kotek and previously Gov. Kate Brown, will step down June 13 as director of the Department of Administrative Services. The state’s chief operating officer, Leslie has been in the job since 2022. She started out as a committee assistant in the Legislature in 1997.

Adam Crawford moved from DAS, where he was a policy and budget analyst, to the Department of Agriculture as chief operating officer. He reports to ODA Director Lisa Charpilloz, overseeing such business functions as human resources, budgeting, accounting, IT, licensing, safety and the vehicle fleet.

Carey McCann joined the Department of Early Learning and Care as director of early childhood policy and strategy. For the past 10 years, McCann has been with the BUILD Initiative, consulting with state leaders on early childhood systems. Becky Griffin now is the director of community systems at DELC. While working for the Oregon Child Integrated Dataset at OHSU’s Center for Evidence-Based Policy, she spearheaded its community engagement strategy.

The House Majority Office has two new staff members. Office manager Kellie Ryan previously worked in the Marion County Legal Office. Abdirahim “Abdi” Mohamoud, who fills a new position as caucus assistant, was a student at the University of Oregon studying political science.

Steph Routh, community engagement manager for Sen. Khanh Pham, D-Portland, was elected chair of the Portland Planning Commission.

Two members of the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board are retiring – Jenny Ogawa at the end of June and Sally Curey at the end of September. Gov. Kotek will appoint their replacements.

Molly Woon, former state elections director, is consulting for the Nevada secretary of state on election issues.