Word of the departure of Ellen Ishimoto, who has been acting state CTO for almost two years, comes amid a statewide recruitment for the deputy CTO position. If that role isn’t filled within the next six weeks, that will leave the top two positions vacant in the California Department of Technology’s (CDT) Office of Technology Services (OTech).
The previous CTO, Richard Rogers, was appointed in July by Gov. Gavin Newsom to the position of deputy state chief information officer and chief deputy director of CDT, backing up state CIO Amy Tong, who is also CDT’s director.
Ishimoto began her career 36 years ago, and she’s held a number of executive and senior leadership roles during that time. Before being named acting CTO of OTech, she had been serving as the office’s assistant chief deputy since 2014 under Rogers. She moved into the OTech chief position when Rogers was named to the CDT role.
“There really wasn’t any debate about who would fill the OTech position after I left,” Rogers told Techwire on Thursday through a CDT spokesperson. “Ellen was the ideal candidate to take it over, and she’s kept it running like a well-oiled machine. She’s done an amazing job.”
Ishimoto’s 30-plus years of state experience included seven years as CIO for the California State Lottery. She also held various leadership roles at the Department of Transportation and the Teale Data Center, as well as serving as chair of the State of California Enterprise Architecture Committee.
“Both Richard and I view Ellen’s retirement as bittersweet,” said Tong. “We are glad for her — and there’s no question she has more than earned a long and happy retirement — but we’re going to miss her and her great work ethic. We wish her a life of happiness.”
In her various roles across state government, Ishimoto has often addressed industry groups, vendor meetings and other events.
Recruitment has not yet begun for the CTO position, but the state began advertising last week for the deputy CTO job, a Career Executive Assignment that has a monthly salary range of $11,505 to $13,063 and reports to the CTO.
