City announces recent hires to help focus on digital transformation

NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF BURLINGTON
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The City of Burlington is announcing the hiring of two new directors to Burlington Digital Services - Richard Liu, director of information technology; and Chinelo Okereke, director of digital strategy and user-centric services. These appointments support the delivery of the city’s Digital Business Strategy, designed to prepare and shift the organization for transformational changes in digital approaches and architecture.

Richard Liu

Liu has been appointed as the city’s director of information technology, effective April 8, 2024. He joined the City of Burlington in November 2022 as the principal of Digital Enterprise Architecture. Liu brings more than 20 years of experience in technology leadership roles to the city. Prior to his most recent role at the city, he held senior leadership positions with the Government of Nova Scotia’s Digital Services, mostly notably as the Director of Enterprise Architecture for over 10 years. He has also held positions in the private sector at CGI Consulting, and CARIS Inc.

With a commitment to digital transformation, strategy, and enterprise architecture, Liu has been instrumental in spearheading major digital initiatives, including the implementation of public cloud strategies and migrations, artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, and the modernization of legacy technology systems.

Liu holds a Master of Computer Science from the University of New Brunswick and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Southwest Jiaotong University in China. His professional certifications include a COBIT 2019 Foundation certificate, an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certificate, and designations as a Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP), and TOGAF 9 Certified Enterprise Architecture Practitioner.

Chinelo (Chinny) Okereke

Okereke joined the City of Burlington as the new director of digital strategy and user-centric services on March 25, 2024. Okereke is an accomplished senior technology transformation leader. Prior to joining the city, she was the enablement, transformation and operations lead for Walmart Canada’s Insights & Analytics Centre of Excellence, created to accelerate the organization’s digital transformation agenda. She has also held positions at the Royal Bank of Canada including driving the strategic enablement of the technology function, and program managing RBC’s global innovation accelerator for employees.

Throughout her career, Okereke has acquired extensive experience in driving large transformation programs and leading successful digital initiatives that increase customer satisfaction, user engagement and employee experience. She has also led the development of user-friendly digital platforms to transform customer interactions.

Okereke holds a master of management sciences from Waterloo University, and a Bachelor of Science, Economics from the University of Toronto. She has certifications in product management, change management and Agile Project Management. She has also served as a part-time instructor for colleges, teaching innovation, change management and business management.

In their roles at the City of Burlington, Liu, Okereke, and their teams will be responsible for helping to execute aspects of the City’s Digital Business Strategy. The strategy outlines actions and investments that take advantage of technology and data to optimize and transform the way City services are delivered. The strategy will guide the delivery of services and ensure they meet the needs of the community, are easy to use, and cost efficient.

Burlington is a city where people, nature and business thrive. Sign up to learn more about Burlington online and follow @CityBurlington on social media.

Quotes

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward

“I am happy to welcome Richard and Chinny to the city in their new roles. We recognize as Burlington grows, so too do the expectations of our residents. They expect speed and a level of quality from our services and that they are user-friendly, efficient, and cost effective. Both Richard and Chinny bring a wealth of experience that will help the city propel our digital initiatives to new heights and ensure we are understanding and responding to our changing customer needs.”

Chad MacDonald, Executive Director, Digital Service and Chief Information Officer

“As industry trends shift and our customers' needs grow, the City of Burlington is excited to be at the forefront of digital transformation. Innovators such as Richard and Chinny are key to our commitment to providing improved, efficient, and modern services to our community."

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