Every month we recap the biggest tech hires and departures in the D.C. area over the past month. To get hiring and other local innovation news daily, sign up for The Beat newsletter. Here’s our list of the top hires in D.C. tech for January:
PrecisionHawk
- Blackboard co-founder Michael Chasen has been named CEO of Raleigh-based PrecisionHawk, a commercial drone tech venture. The news comes about two months after his mapping technology startup SocialRadar was acquired by Verizon.
Federal Communications Commission
- Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai was named FCC chairman on Jan. 23. The move was anticipated after former chairman Tom Wheeler announced he was stepping down. Pai is an outspoken opponent of much of Wheeler's work, and he's expected to reverse course on issues like net neutrality.
Federal Trade Commission
- FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will step down from her post in February after six years at the commission and three as chair. She's been involved in some of the biggest tech policy cases, including issues with hidden cell phone bills and hotels blocking wi-fi connections.
The Iron Yard
- The Iron Yard's D.C. campus director, Brian LeDuc, left the company earlier this month to join D.C.-based Education Design Lab. LeDuc had started at The Iron Yard in July 2016.
Greater Washington Partnership
- The new Greater Washington Partnership has a CEO, and the group pulled from the pool of former White House officials to get him. Jason Miller, who was previously the deputy assistant to the President and deputy director of the National Economic Council, begins his tenure on April 1. The partnership is the brainchild of Ramsey Asset Management CEO Russ Ramsey, Monumental CEO and Revolution co-founder Ted Leonsis and JPMorgan Chase DC regional chairman Peter Scher.
Contactually
- Contactually hired Greg Cypes as their VP of Product. Cypes joins the company from Vienna, Va.-based and Oracle-owned AddThis, a social sharing promotion company.
2U
- Maryland edtech stalwart 2U hired two executives of other education companies to join its team. Wiley's Bruce Spatz will serve as senior vice president of course development and Pearson exec Marlowe Johnson is now 2U's vice president of production.
Spoke
- Vincent Wanga has joined D.C. agency Spoke as a partner and creative director. Wanga was based in Minneapolis, where he was a principal of his own independent studio and served clients at Fortune 500 companies, international nonprofits and startups. Spoke CEO Sam C. Bays told DC Inno the hire signals Spoke's effort to expand from a strategy-first agency into a brand/design/creative services agency.
Maryland Department of Commerce
- The Maryland Department of Commerce hired Kris Valerio as senior director for the Office of Strategic Industries and Entrepreneurship. Valerio was an executive at ad agency Exit10 and served as executive director of the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council for seven years.
Deep Water Point
- Deep Water Point, a federal market consulting firm, announced today that Deborah Diaz will join the company as a principal. Before joining Deep Water Point, Diaz served as former Chief Technology Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer of NASA.
CSRA
- Alexandra Veitch, former special assistant to the president and House legislative affairs liaison in Obama's White House, has been hired as vice president of government relations.
- The company also hired Thomas Doheny, former communications director for Sen. Deb Fischer, as its media relations director
- And Jay Hauck as communications director and chief marketing officer.
