Rachel Haot

Rachel Haot
Rachel Haot speaking at a conference in 2007
Born	New York, New York
Nationality	American
Other names	Rachel Sterne
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Entrepreneur, government
Known for	GroundReport, City of New York
Spouse(s)	Max Haot (married 2012–present)

Rachel Haot (née Sterne) is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur. In January 2016, she joined 1776 (company) as Managing Director.^[1] Haot was previously the Chief Digital Officer and Deputy Secretary for Technology of New York State for two years under Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.^[2] Prior to this role, Rachel served as Chief Digital Officer for the City of New York for three years under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, from January 2011 to December 2013.^[3][4]

Early Life and Education

A lifelong New Yorker, Rachel attended Dobbs Ferry High School and graduated magna cum laude from New York University.

Career

From 2006 to 2010, Haot founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of GroundReport, a global crowdsourced news startup.^[5] In 2008, Haot founded digital strategy consulting firm Upward, and later served as an adjunct professor of Social Media and Entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School.^[6] She has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum,^[7] and Chief Digital Officer of the Year in 2014 by the CDO Summit.^[8] She has been recognized as a "30 Under 30" leader by Fortune ^[9] and Forbes,^[10] and was honored at the City and State Above & Beyond Awards in 2015.^[11]

In 2011, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg named Haot to the post of Chief Digital Officer. Her responsibilities included the development and multi-stakeholder execution of New York City's Digital Roadmap. The Digital Roadmap was unveiled in May 2011 and spanned 40 initiatives across the areas of Internet connectivity, STEM education, open government and big data, online engagement and technology industry support. In October 2013, Mayor Bloomberg and Haot announced that 100% of initiatives had been completed.^[12]

Haot was interviewed by WNYC in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, where she detailed the efforts her office was undertaking to bring the city back to its feet from a digital infrastructure standpoint, especially in Lower Manhattan.^[13] In addition to the City's first official hackathon, Reinvent NYC.GOV,^[14] Haot's office hosted the Reinvent Payphones Design Challenge, a competition to promote the re-purposing of New York City’s public pay telephones for the digital age, which garnered over 100 submissions from design firms and universities.^[15][16] In February 2013, Haot and Mayor Bloomberg introduced We Are Made in NY,^[17] an economic development initiative to support tech sector growth in New York City.^[18]

Haot's largest project at the City of New York was leading the redesign and rearchitecture of official website nyc.gov. The fully responsive platform enhanced the online customer services capabilities of 3-1-1 and was positively received by the public and media.^[19]

As Chief Digital Officer for New York State, Haot was responsible for digital products, programs and policy. Haot led the relaunch of State website ny.gov in November 2014, overhauling design and architecture. The well-received update was the first major change in over 15 years, and emphasizes customer service, mobile access and location-based resources.^[20] Haot's team was also responsible for digital content production and social media engagement.^[21]

In March 2015, Haot appeared on NY1 to highlight the Governor's $500 million universal broadband program, which was later passed by the legislature.^[22] On the first anniversary of the NY.gov relaunch, New York State announced record breaking digital growth, including quadrupled pageviews and doubled users, a year after the design and technology overhaul.^[23]

In January 2016, Haot announced that she was resigning from the State to join global incubator and seed fund 1776 (company) as Managing Director, applying her experience to help startups navigate government and bringing together policymakers, entrepreneurs, institutions and investors to support economic growth.^[24]

Personal life

Haot was born in Manhattan, and grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn and Dobbs Ferry, New York.^[25] Rachel lives in Rockaway, Queens with her husband Max Haot, a Belgian-American who is the founder of Livestream, and their son.^[26]

References