Marcela Escobar-Alava
Executive Fellow in Applied Technology Policy
Focus
Biography
Drawing on her experience at the Social Security Administration, Marcela Escobar-Alava's recommendations for technology leadership in the federal government include user-centered approaches that bridge silos and administrations.
"We are the ones that have the power, the tools, the budget, the opportunity to really shift how we deliver solutions. You have to rattle the cages and go, are we really solving this problem?"
About
Marcela Escobar-Alava served throughout the Biden-Harris Administration, holding several senior-level positions including deputy director of White House Information Technology, special assistant to the president and chief of enterprise applications for the Office of Administration, and as deputy commissioner and chief information officer (CIO) for the Social Security Administration (SSA). Prior to her federal service, she has held several CIO positions in the private and non-profit sectors including Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and Monarch Companies. She is a transformational CIO/CDO/CTO and has built and led teams in large, global and complex organizations across every aspect of technology. She has a BA from LMU and an MBA from USC.
Research
Decades of siloed thinking and rigid institutional practices have impacted how federal government technology serves the American public. Escobar-Alava’s research examines what it takes to lead technology transformation in large, complex government institutions: radical thinking, shifted operating models, and new ways of working that transcend administrations.
