Who Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker has picked for her cabinet and senior staff

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has made a number of appointments to fill out the top rungs of her administration.

Parker, a former City Council member, has tapped top campaign staffers, longtime confidants, and government officials to join her in City Hall. She’s also bringing in cabinet members who have experience in the private sector and nonprofit work.

Here’s a running list of who Parker has picked:

Thiel served as fire commissioner for almost all of Kenney’s tenure, and from 2019 to 2022 he also served as the head of the city’s Office of Emergency Management.

A native of Chicago, Thiel has worked in leadership roles in fire fighting and emergency services in five states, including holding statewide positions in Virginia.

The managing director oversees city agencies, hiring top departmental officials and working hand in hand with the mayor. The appointee is essentially the city’s chief operating officer.

Bethel, who most recently worked as the chief of school safety for the School District of Philadelphia, will head the city’s 5,500-member force. He spent three decades rising through the ranks of the Philadelphia Police Department, culminating in 2008, when then-Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey named him a commissioner charged with leading patrol operations across the entire city.

Bethel also has significant experience in juvenile justice and criminal justice reform, including working with the Stoneleigh Foundation to expand diversion programs for students who commit low-level offenses at school. He’s testified and lectured countless times about reducing the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

Murphy, a 36-year veteran of the department, will be acting fire commissioner, a role that became vacant because Thiel was tapped as managing director.

Murphy rose through the ranks of the Philadelphia Fire Department over the course of more than three decades, serving as a lieutenant, a captain, a battalion chief, a deputy commissioner, and now acting commissioner. He is scheduled to retire next year.

Geer, a deputy inspector general and former homicide prosecutor, will be Philadelphia’s first chief public safety director, taking on a new administrative role responsible for coordinating the city’s response to crime.

Geer will coordinate the deployment of resources and personnel by departments including police, fire, prisons, and emergency services. He’ll also be responsible for guiding the agencies through the budgeting process, drawing up reports on operations and procedures, and maintaining relationships with groups outside the city government.

In his prior role, Geer worked in the city’s Office of the Inspector General, which is responsible for conducting investigations of city agencies and employees to root out fraud and corruption. He also worked two stints in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, as a prosecutor between 2007 and 2011, then again from 2015 to 2021.

Thurman, who most recently worked as vice president of government affairs and social responsibility at the Greater Philadelphia YMCA, also served in outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration as chief of staff to the parks and recreation department.

She and Parker met when they were both earning master’s degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. When Parker chaired the Philadelphia delegation to the State House, she appointed Thurman to be the delegation’s executive director.

Thurman’s portfolio will include policy development and implementation, crisis management, budget oversight, and “large-scale strategic planning,” she said.

Harris left a job at the White House to become Parker’s campaign manager and is also former executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. She helped lead President Joe Biden’s Pennsylvania campaign in 2020.

Harris will take the lead on the administration’s relationships with municipal labor unions, City Council, and other levels of government. She will also oversee work on climate change initiatives and on planning for the major events scheduled for 2026, when Philly will host the nation’s 250th anniversary as well as World Cup games.

Platt is a veteran political consultant who also worked as an executive at La Colombe. He has been a close adviser to Parker for the better part of a decade, and also worked with the state Senate Democratic caucus.

Platt’s portfolio will include overseeing city planning and real estate development issues, developing technological solutions for improving city services, and other major initiatives, he said.

Martinez, a former Vanguard executive, spent four years as the commissioner of the department of human services under former Mayor John F. Street. She is the first Latina and LGBTQ-identifying commerce director in city history.

Martinez’s lengthy career in Philadelphia includes work at Community Legal Services and leading Congreso de Latinos Unidos, a Kensington-based nonprofit that advocates for the city’s Latino community. She then served as president and CEO of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania and headed the city’s DHS.

She later worked at Vanguard for 12 years, first as principal of its retail investor group and then as head of global talent acquisition. In 2015, she declined entreaties to run for mayor herself.

Garcia previously led the litigation unit in the city solicitor’s office, where began in March 2021 and led more than 130 staff members.

She led negotiations over several high-profile cases, including lawsuits filed against the city by protesters alleging police brutality and an investigation into the mishandling of remains of people killed in the MOVE bombing.

She also oversaw multiple cases related to guns, including two major suits filed this year — one against ghost gun distributors and another against gun shops the city says facilitated illegal straw purchasing.

Before her work with the city, Garcia was a top attorney at PNC Bank.

Dubow has served in the same role under two administrations and steered the city into what is by most accounts a stronger financial position than it has been in years. He was first named finance director in 2008 under former Mayor Michael A. Nutter and navigated the city through the financial crisis.

Since 2013, the three major credit rating agencies have rated the city’s general obligation bonds versions of “A,” and Kenney’s administration says its current mix of ratings is the highest in more than four decades.

Prior to his appointment, Dubow was the executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, a state board that oversees the city’s financial health. He also held a handful of other roles in the city’s Finance Department, including as the budget director under Street.

McDermott most recently worked as the chief financial officer in City Council — including alongside Parker, when she was a member. In that role, he also holds board seats on the Board of Pensions and the Accelerator Fund.

Grace most recently led communications for City Council and worked closely with outgoing Council President Darrell L. Clarke. Prior to that, he oversaw communications and media relations for then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who went on to be elected governor, and former Mayor John F. Street.

Williams, most recently the streets commissioner under Kenney, has held a variety of roles in city government for more than two decades, including leading the beleaguered Department of Licenses and Inspections.

At the Streets Department, Williams oversaw the installation of solar-powered trash compactors, expanded street-sweeping, and implemented the city’s first “litter index.” He also managed a workforce development program within the department that Parker has praised.

His job is a newly created position, and it mirrors Parker’s campaign slogan of making Philadelphia “the safest, cleanest, and greenest big city in the nation.”

Del Rossi rose up the ranks of the Streets Department over the last 20 years, starting as a district traffic engineer before becoming the agency’s chief engineer and transportation operations director.

She will oversee pothole repairs, roadway improvements, and street light maintenance on city-owned roads. She will report to Thiel.

Parker has chosen to separate the Sanitation Division from the Streets Department, where it was previously housed, to ensure each function gets adequate attention. As such, Jacobs Shipman will oversee trash pickup and illegal dumping enforcement, and she will report to Williams’ new office.

She was previously a department spokesperson and the executive director of public safety programs in its transportation division

Parker has tapped Mondlak to lead the Department of Planning and Development on an interim basis.

He replaces Eleanor Sharpe, who was herself leading the department on interim basis after the departure of Anne Fadullon, who led the agency during Kenney’s administration.

Mondlak formerly oversaw development services work in the Commerce Department and was a deputy city solicitor for real estate and economic development issues.

Lindsay will be Parker’s director of strategic partnerships, a newly created position. According to Parker’s administration, Lindsay’s office will “take a comprehensive view of the city’s needs and resources, and then to mobilize support of the private, non-profit and philanthropic sectors in the Philadelphia region.”

Lindsay previously worked in finance, with managerial roles at PNC and TD, and as president of Impact Strategies & Solutions Group, a consulting firm where she helped companies with “strategies to bolster positive social and environmental impacts without compromising financial profitability,” according to her LinkedIn profile.

Freeman will lead the new Office of Neighborhood and Community Engagement, which will be involved with initiatives aimed at engaging children, Black men, women, and other groups that are often overlooked. Parker’s office said the new role “aligns with the Mayor’s vision for a government that is not only safer, cleaner and greener, but which is responsive to its customers — residents.”

Freeman was previously the director of community engagement for the Office of Criminal Justice & Public Safety.

Palantino will lead Parker’s new Office of Capital Projects and will oversee major building initiatives, including Rebuild, Kenney’s signature program to improve the rec centers and playgrounds.

Previously, Palantino served as a deputy commissioner for capital infrastructure with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. She was born in India, and has lived in Philadelphia for 25 years.

Bray’s role is new, and it is distinct from that of the city solicitor, who leads the Law Department and serves as the top legal adviser for the executive and legislative branches. Bray will serve the Mayor’s Office and lead a new initiative to better integrate city services called PhillyStat 360.

She was previously the city’s first deputy city solicitor.

As city representative, Jones will be Philadelphia’s “chief ambassador,” as Parker put it, and she will oversee the Office of Special Events. She’ll play a big role in the city’s preparations for 2026, when Philly will host events related to the nation’s 250th birthday, World Cup games, and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Jones, who is married to City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., has worked for the city for about two decades, including stints with the Mayor’s Office of Community Services and more recently as a deputy managing director.

Carrera spent 27 years with the Philadelphia school district, rising from teacher to principal to assistant superintendent. She then spent two years as a senior official in the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The chief education officer guides the administration’s approach to education policy, including advising the mayor on appointments to the school district’s board and overseeing city-managed educational programs such as pre-K.

Duchaussee will lead the offices that handle human resources, records, procurement, and technology.

She was formerly deputy director in the city’s Department of Labor, and previously worked with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gardner Wright previously served as a staffer with the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, an independent agency that investigates violations of the city’s ethics rules. In her new role, she will be responsible for ensuring the administration does not run afoul of those rules, such as those that limit city employees’ political activities.

Mireles served as director of the Office of Emergency Management in Kenney’s administration, and Parker has chosen to retain him. The office coordinates the city’s response to major disasters and develops public safety plans for big events.

In Kenney’s second term, Garrett Harley was named deputy mayor for children and families. Parker has chosen a new structure for the top level of her administration in which only two people, Platt and Harris, carry the title of deputy mayor.

Consequently, Garrett Harley will stay in the same policy area but will now serve as the director of the Office of Children and Families, overseeing the Department of Human Services, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, and the Free Library.

Her previous roles include serving as acting managing director, deputy managing director of criminal justice and public safety, and commissioner of the Department of Human Services.

West — the former CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce who unsuccessfully ran for City Council last year —will be the administration’s “director of business roundtables,” meaning he’ll serve as a liaison to the business community. He leads a business consulting firm and has held a variety of other leadership roles, including sitting on the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on African American Males.

Branson has spent most of her career as a corporate attorney and was most recently general counsel/corporate secretary at Nymbus, a financial technology platform. She’s a past president of the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia, a trade group of Black attorneys. The administration said the newly created Office of Minority Business Success “will help minority businesses launch and thrive in Philadelphia.”

Newmuis, who most recently served as Head of Impact at global asset management firm FS Investments, will coordinate planning for 2026 events including FIFA World Cup games and the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. Prior to FS investments, Newmuis was a top official at Visit Philadelphia, which played a major role in events including the 2017 NFL Draft, the 2016 Democratic National Convention, and 2015 Papal visit.

This article will be updated as Parker names members of her administration.