City of Santa Monica Leadership

Cynthia Renaud is a Chief Of Police at City of Santa Monica and is based in Santa Monica, California. She has worked as Commander at City of Long Beach and Chief of Police at City of Folsom. Cynthia studied at Naval Postgraduate School and California State University, Long Beach.

Debbie Lee is a Chief Communications Officer at City of Santa Monica and is based in Santa Monica, California. She has worked as Vice President, Business Development at Santa Monica Travel & Tourism and Vice President at Downtown Santa Monica Inc. Debbie attended University of California, Riverside (UCR).

Francie Stefan is a Chief Mobility Officer/Assistant Director of Planning & Community Development at City of Santa Monica and is based in Santa Monica, California. She has worked as Strategic Planning & Transportation Division Manager at City of Santa Monica; Analyst at Metropolitan Area Research Corporation, for Representative Myron Orfield; and Neighborhood Revitalization Project Staff at Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, Humphrey Institute of Public Policy. Francie studied at University of Minnesota between 1994 and 1997; University of California, Los Angeles between 1998 and 2000; and CARLETON COLLEGE between 1992 and 1994.

Golnoosh Jafari is a Swimming Instructor at Goswimming.net, Chief pool lifeguard at City of Santa Monica, and Owner at Goswimming.net and is based in Santa Monica, California. She has worked as Chiropractor assistant at Westwood Clinic. Golnoosh studied at Expertraning between 2017 and 2017, Islamic Azad University between 1996 and 2001, and Santa Monica College between 2007 and 2010.

Jeanette Schachtner is a Chief Deputy City Attorney at City of Santa Monica and is based in United States.

Joseph Cevetello is a Chief Information Officer at City of Santa Monica and is based in Santa Monica, California. He has worked as Director, Information Technology Services at University of Southern California; Principal Consultant at Technology Learning Consultants; and Assistant Chief Information Officer at University of Southern California. Joseph studied at 2000 Harvard University, Graduate School of Education between 1994 and 2001; California State University, Northridge between 1982 and 1987; and Harvard Graduate School of Education between 1997 and 2000.

Experienced strategic leader focused on improved community outcomes and equity through partnerships, social impact initiatives and civic engagement.

Julie led Santa Monica's team which developed the City's award winning entry in the 2013 Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayors Challenge, an ideas competition for cities. Since then, she has overseen Santa Monica's groundbreaking wellbeing index established to define, measure and actively improve community wellbeing.

Working at the nexus of wellbeing and community policy, Julie champions projects that help all segments of the community flourish. She has directed a range of human service, health, cultural, education, recreation, and placemaking initiatives. Julie has pioneered nationally-recognized efforts to tackle social issues, bringing compassion to her work. She led Santa Monica’s Cradle to Career Initiative which gave rise the the City's first interagency Youth Wellbeing Report Card (2012, 2014) and then led to the creation of the local wellbeing index (2015, 2017, 2019-underway).

Julie spearheaded Santa Monica’s winning submission for the 2016 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health prize. Julie serves on Board of the Human Relations Council, received League of Women Voters “Women Who Shape Santa Monica” (2015) award. She is a 2016/17 Fellow with BALLE (Business Alliance for a Local Living Economy). Julie was named to the 2017 List of Top 25 Influencers by ELGL (Engaging Local Government Leaders). She is currently a fellow with the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities.

She grew up New York, went to college in Boston, Massachusetts, and lives in Santa Monica, California.

Katie Lichtig is a Chief Operating Officer at City of Santa Monica and is based in Santa Monica, California. She has worked as Special Agent (Criminal investigator) at US Department of the Treasury, City Manager at City of Malibu, and Presidential Management Intern (Management Analyst) at US Department of the Treasury. Katie attended UC Davis between 1979 and 1983 and Syracuse University between 1983 and 1984.

Lori Gentles is entrepreneurial and transformative change-promoter, Lori has dedicated 20 plus years’ inspiring and leading strategic organization wide initiatives in various complex and diverse public sector agencies. Over the years, Gentles has established a professional brand as a Cultural Architect specializing in designing, building and cultivating a culture that embraces employee empowerment and leverages individual and collective genius through creativity, diversity, equity and inclusion. The program designer of Employeeship™, The Path to Leadership and author of Oh SLAP! My Choices Determine My Destiny, Lori’s vision is to provide highly self motivated employees across the globe with the tools to become exceptional leaders and societal contributors by moving away from entitlement to empowerment. Gentles, considered by many, an industry influencer, is known for employing a progressive approach to human resources. Her penchant for identifying ways to eliminate the ‘boundaries that bind’ and inspiring a new ‘portrait of possibilities’ has proven successful and catalytic. In addition to her work in public sector organizations, Gentles has served in various member and leadership roles on Boards and Commissions such as the Consortium for International Management, Policy and Development; Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence; College and University Professional Association; National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education; National Black MBA Association. A local and international speaker, Gentles has presented in Asia, Africa and the US on topics such as women empowerment, breaking the cycle of poverty through socially conscious international recruiting, education and employment, and leadership and performance management. Additional information can be found on Instagram @weareichoice and at thechoicescompany.com.

Shannon Parry is a Chief Sustainability Officer at City of Santa Monica and is based in Santa Monica, California. She has worked as Deputy Sustainability Officer, City of Santa Monica at City of Santa Monica and Community Program at Sustainable Works. Shannon studied at University of California - UC Berkeley between 1992 and 1997 and University of California, Los Angeles between 2003 and 2005.