Leadership

Nick Maduros

Nick Maduros was appointed Secretary of Government Operations by Governor Gavin Newsom in March of 2025, elevated to the role after serving as Director of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA).

During his tenure at CDTFA, Maduros administered 42 tax and fee programs for the State of California. Together with his team of 4,000 tax professionals, he was responsible for collecting more than $96 billion in public revenue annually. Maduros focused on fairly and efficiently administering CDTFA’s many tax programs. Through better use of data and operational improvements, Maduros and his team cut the cost per dollar of revenue by 25% and held spending more than $100 million below authorized levels in each of the last two fiscal years.

Prior to his appointment at CDTFA, Maduros served in the Obama Administration as chief of staff of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). At the SBA, he managed a team of 3,000 employees in 70 offices, an $871 million annual operating budget and the agency’s $120 billion loan guarantee portfolio. Under his leadership, the SBA achieved record highs in small business lending, growing the agency’s flagship loan program by 25% to $24.1 billion, and met the women-owned government contracting goal for the first time in history.  

Earlier in his career, Maduros worked as an attorney and advised leading nonprofit organizations and corporations on a range of public policy challenges.  He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School. A native of Stockton, California, he now lives in Davis with his wife and three young daughters. 

Sarah Soto-Taylor

Sarah Soto-Taylor was appointed undersecretary by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Government Operations Agency in October of 2024.

Soto-Taylor previously served at Deputy Secretary of Business Transformation and Strategic Development at the agency for more than five years. Prior to joining the Government Operations Agency, Ms. Soto-Taylor, worked at Covered California as Senior Consultant from 2015 – 2019 and as Deputy Director of Community Relations from 2012 – 2014 where she launched the Affordable Care Act’s state-wide Outreach and Education Campaign and Enrollment Assistance Programs. From 1997 – 2012 Ms. Soto-Taylor held various senior management and leadership positions at the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board in the areas of Eligibility, Enrollment and Marketing, Benefits and Quality Monitoring, Legislation, and External Affairs. Prior to joining state-service Ms. Soto-Taylor was a bilingual community health educator and administrator of health care programs in the private sector. Ms. Soto-Taylor earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health Education and Master of Public Health degree from San Diego State University.

Email: Sarah.Soto-Taylor@govops.ca.gov

Executive Leadership

Jiwon Jeong

Deputy Secretary, Tax

Jiwon Jeong has focused her career on California tax policy and consulting. Prior to joining the Government Operations Agency, Jiwon was a Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP’s National State and Local Tax practice specializing in California tax. In that role she represented taxpayers before California’s tax agencies and served as a subject matter expert on California franchise and income tax, California tax policy, and California legislative and regulatory developments. She also served as the firm’s expert on the California Competes Tax Credit program and assisted businesses that wanted to create jobs and grow in California with tax credit agreements awarded by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Jiwon is a member of the California State Bar and received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Davis School of Law and Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Linguistics from Sogang University in Seoul, Korea.

Email: Jiwon.Jeong@govops.ca.gov

Roy Kennedy

Deputy Secretary of Communications

Roy Kennedy was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Government Operations Agency in 2024. Prior to his appointment, Kennedy served as Assistant Secretary of Communications at the California Government Operations Agency since 2021. He held multiple positions at Covered California from 2013 to 2021 where he helped lead the Communications and Public Relations office, serving as Website and Administrative Branch Chief, Acting Deputy Director of Communications and Public Relations and Information Officer. After completing internships in both radio and television, he held several positions at KXTV News10 from 2000 to 2013, including Assignment Manager and Assignment Editor. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science from California State University, Sacramento.

Email: Roy.Kennedy@govops.ca.gov

Luis Larios

Deputy Secretary of Legislation

Luis Larios was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Government Operations Agency in 2022.  Prior to his appointment, Larios served as Deputy Appointments Secretary in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom where he helped hundreds of candidates successfully navigate the appointments process. Previously, he worked for several legislators in the California State Assembly. He was a Senior Assistant in the Office of State Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, a Legislative Aide in the Office of State Assemblymember Mike Gipson, and an Assembly Fellow in the Office of State Assemblymember Kevin Mullin. While working in the California State Assembly Luis was elected as Policy Director for the California Latino Capitol Association and was also involved in the Capital Fellows Alumni Association. Luis holds a B.A. in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.

Email: Luis.Larios@govops.ca.gov