Chad Crowe, the award-winning chief information officer of the California Department of Human Resources, is taking on a new CIO role in state government.
Effective July 5, Crowe will take over as CIO for the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), which he described as “a great fit for me and what I am passionate about.”
Crowe has been CIO for Cal HR since April 2008, following six years as project manager and software engineer for SRA International.
“I am honored and very excited to join the CDSS team and look forward to utilizing a strategic and innovative approach to further CDSS’ digital transformation with the business and technical partners there,” Crowe told Industry Insider — California. “With over 20 years in technology and 15 in state government, I felt that this was a good point for me to move on in my career. CDSS was very appealing to me as a department, with passionate public servants working towards an extraordinary mission. This a great fit for me and what I am passionate about.”
In his tenure at Cal HR, Crowe oversaw a variety of multimillion-dollar statewide IT solutions, including the state’s job posting and application tracking system (CalCareers), the state’s Discrimination Complaint Tracking System (DCTS), the Enterprise HR project, CalLearns, and the Examination and Certification Online System (ECOS).
Crowe and his team were nationally recognized as a finalist in the 2019 National Association of State Chief Information Officers State IT Recognition Awards for their efforts on the ECOS and CalCareers projects. In 2020, Crowe was co-recipient, with CIO Jon Kirkham of the state Department of Rehabilitation, of the CIO of the Year award during the California Public Sector CIO Academy, presented by e.Republic.*
Crowe has experience in a wide range of technical operations and organizational disciplines, according to his LinkedIn profile, including strategic planning, team development, project management, software engineering and development, data architecture and sharing platforms, legacy system modernization, and enterprise architectural design.
Before entering government, while with SRA International, Crowe managed projects delivering application solutions to the Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S.
He said he’s eagerly looking forward to his new role with CDSS.
“I truly believe that great things can happen when you put passion behind an extremely talented and skilled team like you have at CDSS,” he said, “so I am thrilled at the opportunity to be a part of the bright future at CDSS.”
Crowe was the subject of an Industry Insider — California “One-on-One” interview in October.
He received his associate’s degree in mathematics from American River College and his bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State University at Sacramento, and he is a 2013-2014 alumnus of the state’s Information Technology Leadership Academy (ITLA).
In his off hours, Crowe said, he stays active with his three children, including coaching their youth sports teams, with basketball being his favorite. He also enjoys mountain bike riding, fishing, weightlifting and working on his 1978 Jeep CJ5.
*e.Republic is the parent of Industry Insider — California and Government Technology.
