{"id":353204,"date":"2026-09-22T05:18:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T05:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353204\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T05:18:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T05:18:24","slug":"washington-state-names-private-sector-tech-leader-as-new-chief-information-security-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353204\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington state names private sector tech leader as new chief information security officer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington state has named Gwen Gann, an experienced private sector tech leader, as the state\u2019s new chief information security officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gann shared the announcement in a LinkedIn post<\/a>, and in the role, she will oversee the state\u2019s Office of Cybersecurity<\/a>, which sets Washington\u2019s cybersecurity strategy and protects state government networks from cyber threats. It also provides monitoring services, responds to cyberattacks, helps agencies strengthen their networks, and provides incident-response support. OCS also works with state, local and military partners on cybersecurity and conducts public education and outreach to raise awareness of online threats.<\/p>\n

She fills the role left vacant by Ralph Johnson, who retired from government this summer<\/a> after three-and-a-half years as the cyber lead at Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), the state\u2019s tech office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gann joins Washington from the private sector after more than two decades in technology leadership. She most recently served as technology director at HealthFirst, a hospital-products company, according to her LinkedIn profile<\/a>. Before that, she spent more than six years as chief information officer at Public Partnerships LLC, a financial-management services company, in addition to leading IT organizations, integrating technology environments and managing technology programs across health and human services and financial-management organizations earlier in her career.<\/p>\n

In the LinkedIn post, Gann said the \u201copportunity means more to me than a new title.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout my career, I\u2019ve believed that meaningful transformation is possible, even when the challenges are complex, the systems are deeply established, or the path forward isn\u2019t obvious. Progress happens when we are willing to ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions, build strong partnerships, and then do the work required to make something better,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had the privilege of leading teams through transformation, strengthening technology and security programs, finding opportunities where others saw constraints, and helping organizations become more resilient, efficient, and prepared for what comes next. But the accomplishments I value most have never been mine alone. They have come from bringing good people together, creating an environment where they can do their best work, and building trust across organizations, customers, and partners,\u201d Gann continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She praised the state\u2019s CIO Bill Kehoe and his leadership team for \u201cultimately trusting me with the opportunity to lead this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur conversations throughout the process reinforced how much opportunity exists to strengthen cybersecurity across Washington through partnership, thoughtful stewardship, and a willingness to challenge what can be better,\u201d she continued. \u201cI\u2019m excited to now turn those conversations into action alongside him and leaders across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Keely<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWritten by Keely Quinlan
\n\t\t\tKeely Quinlan reports on privacy and digital government for StateScoop. She was an investigative news reporter with Clarksville Now in Tennessee, where she resides, and her coverage included local crimes, courts, public education and public health. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Stereogum and other outlets. She earned her bachelor\u2019s in journalism and master\u2019s in social and cultural analysis from New York University.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington state has named Gwen Gann, an experienced private sector tech leader, as the state\u2019s new chief information…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[131717,131718,131719,9,11,10,49,51,50,5065,7988,13771,6648,131720],"class_list":["post-353204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-bill-kehoe","tag-chief-information-security-officer-ciso","tag-gwen-gann","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-state-local-news","tag-states","tag-tech-news","tag-washington","tag-washington-technology-solutions-watech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}