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Keyanna Conner

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Keyanna Conner
17th Virginia Secretary of Administration
In office
January 13, 2018 – January 8, 2021
GovernorRalph Northam
Preceded byNancy Rodrigues
Succeeded byGrindly Johnson
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceRichmond, Virginia[1]
Alma materHampton University
Virginia Commonwealth University

Keyanna Conner is an American politician. She served as the Virginia Secretary of Administration in the Cabinet of Governor Ralph Northam. She worked for Mark Warner's campaign and administration before joining Northam's cabinet.[2][3]

Education

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Keyanna Conner grew up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and is a native of Wattsville, Virginia.[3][4][5][6][7] Conner studied chemistry at Hampton University,[2][8] where she took part in an environmental health project at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where she put her skills in analytical chemistry to work. Conner graduated from Hampton University in 2006 and received a doctorate in organic chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2015, where she worked on her thesis "Gas Phase Studies of Organic Reaction Mechanisms" under adviser Scott Gronert.[6][9] During her educational pursuits, Conner was actively involved in public service projects.

Career

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After watching Barack Obama's presidential campaign kickoff speech, Conner was inspired to be politically active and volunteered making phone calls and data entry for the Obama campaign.

After earning her undergraduate degree in 2006, she moved to Richmond, where, in 2012, she served as the Chair of the Democratic Committee in Henrico County.[10] Conner joined Senator Mark Warner's 2014 campaign for the U.S. Senate as a senior adviser and political director.[2][11] She then worked for Senator Warner, first as his Director of Government and Community Affairs and then as his State Director.[4]

After serving on Senator Warner's staff, Conner accepted a position in Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's cabinet as Secretary of Administration.[8] In this role, she oversaw the Department of Human Resource Management, the Department of Elections, the Compensation Board, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the Department of General Services.[12] In December 2020, it was announced that Conner would leave her position for a job in the private sector.[13][14]

Honors

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In 2018, Conner received one of "VCU Alumni's 10 Under 10" awards.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Keyanna Conner". LinkedIn.
  2. ^ a b c "Sen. Warner announces Keyanna Conner as state director". August Free Press. March 16, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Evanne Armour (December 28, 2017). "Gov.-elect Northam announces picks for Secretary, Administration". WAVY-TV. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Northam announces top administration appointments". Augusta Free Press. December 29, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  5. ^ Graham Moomaw (December 28, 2017). "McAuliffe rights restoration official will stay on under Northam". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Wattsville native appointed as Va. Secretary of Administration". WMDT. February 7, 2018. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  7. ^ "Center for Innovative Technology Announces Successful Completion of Statewide Data Town Halls with the Commonwealth's Chief Data Officer" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. December 19, 2019. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  8. ^ a b "Keyanna Conner earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from VCU. Now she oversees five Virginia government agencies". news.vcu.edu. April 26, 2018. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  9. ^ Conner, Keyanna (2015). Gas Phase Studies of Organic Reaction Mechanisms (Thesis). VCU Scholars Compass. doi:10.25772/9KKX-0212. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  10. ^ Anita Kumar (May 31, 2012). "Terry McAuliffe amasses support for gubernatorial run". Washington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  11. ^ The Associated Press (March 19, 2014). "Warner names campaign staff in Senate re-election bid". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  12. ^ "Hampton University Students Visit State Capitol for 2020 Advocacy Day". news.hamptonu.edu. February 12, 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  13. ^ "State announces new secretary of administration". www.virginiabusiness.com. December 10, 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  14. ^ "Virginia Secretary of Administration Keyanna Conner to resign". statescoop.com. December 15, 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  15. ^ "VCU Office of Alumni Relations - 10 Under 10". www.vcualumni.org. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
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