Eva Pereira
Chief Data Officer
City of Los Angeles, CA
Eva Pereira is a data-driven public sector leader focused on promoting equity, opportunity, and inclusiveness. Currently, she is the Chief Data Officer for the City of Los Angeles, where she leads a team focused on improving data governance and data services. Her team has delivered award-winning data projects on topics like racial equity, digital inclusion, the pandemic recovery, and more.
Learn more about leaders in the Southern California CDAO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started my career in a newsroom, where I became interested in data stories and tech for social impact. That led me to policy school at Columbia SIPA. During my time there, I landed a White House internship on the newly formed Open Data team in 2014.
I later worked on data at Teach for America here in Los Angeles and then jumped over to the City of Los Angeles' Data Team in 2019. I was promoted to Chief Data Officer in September of 2021 after our previous CDO stepped up to become Deputy Mayor of Budget & Innovation.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Hire for passion. In the public sector, it's important to know that the team you bring on board has a passion for public service and understands and connects with the issues.
With disruption being a key theme of the past year, where do you see your role as a CDAO going in the next 1-2 years?
The CDAO role is becoming more common in cities, counties, and states across the country. There's this emerging realization that every organization can benefit from better data-sharing practices and that having a role dedicated to promoting data access, culture, and literacy is important.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the CDAO role?
My advice would be to listen to feedback up and down the chain of command. Conduct listening sessions and get clarity on what the key problems and opportunities are within the organization.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- I'm a lifelong competitive swimmer.
- I recently picked up cycling.
- I can speak Italian on a good day.
What is the value of participating in a professional community through Evanta?
I see value in the learning and networking opportunities the Evanta community brings.
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