Kenney to announce three top appointments
Mayor-elect Jim Kenney will announce three cabinet-level appointments Wednesday, including one to a newly created position that focuses on diversity.
Mayor-elect Jim Kenney will announce three cabinet-level appointments Wednesday, including one to a newly created position that focuses on diversity.
Nolan Atkinson Jr., a partner at Duane Morris L.L.P., will be the city's first chief diversity and inclusion officer; Ellen Mattleman Kaplan, a former Committee of Seventy vice president and a member of Kenney's transition team, will be the chief integrity officer; and Inspector General Amy Kurland will continue in her job.
While other administrations had positions that dealt with diversity in the city workforce, none has had such a senior position that focused solely on diversity and inclusion, said Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt.
The chief diversity and inclusion officer is a new role for city government but not for Atkinson, 72. He is Duane Morris' chief diversity officer and founded the consortium Philadelphia Diversity Law Group Inc.
"I hope to use my time in government working with the administration to bring about more diversity and inclusion throughout Philadelphia," Atkinson said Tuesday.
Atkinson was a township commissioner in Lower Merion for 12 years and was appointed to Mayor Nutter's Advisory Task Force on Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform in 2008.
Kaplan, 61, is a familiar face. As vice president and policy director at the watchdog group for nearly 10 years, Kaplan was a constant figure at the Board of Ethics monthly meetings, and pushed for stricter ethics rules in testimony before City Council.
On Tuesday, Kaplan said she was excited about her new role.
"For me, somebody who is a lawyer and a policy person and having an interest in ethics . . . having a mix of government and politics and ethics and law is a real sweet spot," Kaplan said.
As chief integrity officer, Kaplan will work closely with Kurland.
"The chief integrity officer is on the front end and the inspector general is on the back end," Kaplan said.
The chief integrity officer tries to prevent city employees from doing anything unethical by making sure they know the rules. The inspector general investigates wrongdoing and fraud by city employees.
Kurland, 59, was appointed inspector general at the start of Nutter's first term. She is a former federal prosecutor who specialized in public corruption and white-collar fraud.
Kurland said she was thrilled to continue her work under Kenney.
"He has long been a supporter of our office. . . . He is committed to our mission of ensuring honesty and integrity in city government," Kurland said Tuesday.
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