Maria Roat
Golden Gov: Executive of the Year
Amid the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat rose to the occasion in a number of ways. She led the Small Business Administration’s IT response efforts to ensure small businesses could file for loans while still CIO of the agency during the early months of the crisis. And then, after taking her new role as deputy Federal CIO in May, she also filled in as the de facto top federal IT official after Federal CIO Suzette Kent departed government in July. “It’s been a year,” Roat said of 2020. “I’m incredibly proud of the CIO Council this year for all of their work throughout the pandemic. As technology leaders, the CIO Council delivered.”
