GovEx CDOs-in-Residence

Joy Bonaguro served as Chief Data Officer of the State of California with an overarching goal to improve government use of data. She established the Office of the CDO along with a suite of statewide data services. Prior to her state role, she was responsible for scaling internal systems, data, and information security at Corelight, a high-growth cybersecurity startup funded by Accel and General Catalyst. She also served as the first Chief Data Officer for the City and County of San Francisco, where she pioneered multiple initiatives to introduce data science, streamline data access, improve data management, and boost capacity to use data. Before that, Joy developed technology, cyber and privacy policy across the Department of Energy’s National Laboratory System. Her career started in New Orleans with seven years designing and managing the development of information systems to support planning and decision-making for local governments and nonprofits. Joy earned her Master's degree from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and her Bachelor's in Mathematics and Philosophy from Tulane University. Joy Bonaguro now works as an independent consultant using a blend of data, technology, design, and policy to help make organizations work well. She has extensive experience working in complex, highly regulated organizations to accelerate use of data and technology in an agile, iterative, safe, ethical, and durable manner. She’s an international speaker and writer on leading practices in data infrastructure, management, analytics, data science, and responsible AI.

Melisa Breda served as Chief Data Officer for the City of Buenos Aires, where she led the city’s data strategy and helped strengthen governance and performance management practices across government. In that role, she worked closely with political and technical teams to embed data into everyday decision-making and improve public services. She is currently a Senior Data Strategy and Implementation Consultant at the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) at Johns Hopkins University. At GovEx, she supports city leaders across Latin America in developing practical data and AI strategies, building institutional capacity, and translating vision into measurable progress. With over a decade of experience in public policy and data-driven government, Melisa enjoys building connections—between cities and data, Latin America and the world, and strategy and real-world impact.

Justin Elszasz served as Chief Data Officer for the City of Baltimore and Interim Director of the Mayor's Office of Performance & Innovation. He built Baltimore's first Digital Services team, launched the Baltimore Data Academy in collaboration with GovEx, and created the Data Fellows program to recruit and embed analysts across city agencies. As a founding member of the City's Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded Innovation Team, he drove results through data and human-centered design. An engineer at heart, Justin spends his free time on woodworking, electronics, and 3D printing. That ethos connects him to Open Works, the country's largest non-profit makerspace, where he serves on the board of directors. Justin has taught graduate-level data visualization at the Maryland Institute College of Art and brings experience spanning data science, policy analysis, aerospace, and energy systems. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University and Columbia University. Justin is Founder and Principal of Good Enough — a consultancy helping cities reclaim the phrase "good enough for government" — Justin partners with local governments to modernize service delivery through artificial intelligence, data, and design.

Mike Flowers is a prominent leader renowned for his results-first work in leveraging data as an enterprise asset and spearheading public and private sector technology policy. He has a distinguished history of planning and executing data-driven initiatives at the highest levels. Mike was New York City's first Chief Analytics Officer, appointed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to a role that underscores his expertise in implementing and deploying citywide data-driven strategies. His career is further marked by a successful track record of building “intrapreneurial” teams and advising national, state, and municipal governments, Fortune 50 multinational corporations, technology start-ups, and NGOs on critical data, privacy, and identity policy and programs. Currently serving as the first Chief Data Officer of K2 Integrity, a global financial integrity and investigative services firm, from 2022-25 he was the Senior Advisor for Technology at the U.S. General Services Administration and was a Senior Fellow for the State of New Jersey’s Office of Innovation for the CoVID-19 pandemic. Flowers has also served as a federal law clerk on the U.S. District Court, a prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York City, an attorney with power law firm Williams & Connolly in Washington DC, a war crimes investigator with the Regime Crimes Liaison's Office in Iraq, and counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.