Tech service lead Phaedra Chrousos leaving GSA

Phaedra Chrousos, the politically appointed commissioner of the General Services Administration’s newly formed Technology Transformation Service, will end her time at the agency next month.

Named GSA’s first chief customer officer in 2014 and later promoted to associate administrator of the agency’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies/18F, Chrousos’ final day with GSA is set for July 15, agency Administrator Denise Turner Roth announced Thursday in a blog post.  

The Technology Transformation Service — which consolidates the work of 18F, the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, and the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies into a single body to assist other agencies with IT development and modernization, and provide a foundation for government’s larger digital transformation — was announced in May with Chrousos at the helm.

With Chrousos’ departure, GSA is looking for a replacement who “can continue to scale our efforts and further weave the organization into the fabric of the government.”

In the meantime, CIO David Shive will step in as acting commissioner for TTS. He’ll continue his role as agency CIO concurrently. 

“David has been a steadfast partner of the Technology Transformation Service and 18F from the beginning,” Turner Roth wrote. “He is a strong advocate for the organization’s impact across government and a vocal proponent of the modern delivery of technology in the federal space.”

Aaron Snow, executive director of 18F, will remain deputy commissioner of the service. 

FedScoop has also learned that Garren Givens, director of the Presidential Innovation Fellows who entered government as a PIF in 2013, is ending his tour in government, as well.  

These short tours in government — around two years long in most cases — are popularizing as federal agencies and digital services teams like 18F and the U.S. Digital Service try to attract a new generation of talented technologists who move around in their careers more frequently than traditional civil servants. Federal agencies can use a special hiring authority to bring on IT specialists for up to two years, with an option to renew their contract another two years.  

During her tenure at GSA, Chrousos has always been transparent about her intentions to call it quits after her two-year tour.

“I’ve got two years here. And I really do believe in the tech corps mentality,” she told FedScoop in February 2015. “I’m not building an empire, I’m not staying in government, I’m not trying to build a political career. I’m just trying to do something good and then go back to my life.”

Contact the reporter on this story via email at Billy.Mitchell@FedScoop.com or follow him on Twitter @BillyMitchell89. Subscribe to the Daily Scoop to get all the federal IT news you need in your inbox every morning at fdscp.com/sign-me-on.