Melissa DeRosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melissa DeRosa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary to the Governor of New York | |
| In office April 17, 2017 – August 24, 2021 | |
| Governor | Andrew Cuomo |
| Preceded by | William Mulrow |
| Succeeded by | Karen Persichilli Keogh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 29, 1982 Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Matthew Wing
(m. 2016; div. 2021) |
| Education | Cornell University (BA, MPA) |
Melissa DeRosa (born September 29, 1986) is an American former government official from the state of New York.[1] She served as secretary to the former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, from 2017 until 2021. She was described by the New York Times as the most powerful appointed official in the state as well as being the first woman appointed to the role.
DeRosa was involved in steering bills through the legislature, including minimum wage, paid family leave and expanded insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization. She was chair of the New York State Council on Women and Girls and head of the COVID-19 maternity task force.
She and Cuomo resigned on the same day in 2021 after a government report concluded that he had sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and DeRosa had retaliated against one of the women.
After her government work, DeRosa opened a consulting business providing services including crisis communications, executive operations, and government affairs strategy. In October 2023, DeRosa released a memoir, What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis.
DeRosa was born on September 29, 1982, in Rochester, N.Y. and raised in Albany and Saratoga Springs, New York and has two siblings.[2][3][1][4] She is the daughter of Melody DeRosa, a retired education technology consultant for Texas Instruments, and Giorgio DeRosa, a powerful lobbyist who is a senior partner at Bolton-St. Johns, an Albany-based lobbying firm.[1][5][6][7][8] DeRosa's brother and sister also work at Bolton-St. Johns.[9]
At 16, DeRosa was an intern for the political director of the New York State AFL–CIO.[6][10]
DeRosa attended the private school, Albany Academy for Girls, graduating in 2000.[11][12] She graduated in 2004 from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. While an undergraduate student at Cornell, she worked in the Senate office of Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C. during a summer.[13]
DeRosa worked for a year as a publicist for Theory, a fashion house in New York.[1] She then worked as a lobbyist for Bolton-St. Johns.[1] In 2009, she completed an MPA from the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs.[13]
Career
DeRosa worked as Director of Communications and Legislation for the Albany-based lobbying firm Cordo & Company.[10][14] From 2009 to 2011, DeRosa was the New York State Director of Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee founded after the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama. In 2011, DeRosa became Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.[10][6][15]
In March 2013, she became Director of Communications for Governor Andrew Cuomo.[5][10][15] DeRosa later became strategic adviser.[6] In 2015, DeRosa was appointed Chief of Staff.[6] In 2020, DeRosa was appointed to serve on the transition committee to President-Elect Joe Biden, serving as senior advisor to Steve Ricchetti, the White House's incoming counselor and helping to assist the incoming administration's COVID response.[16]
Secretary to Governor Cuomo
In 2017, DeRosa was promoted to Secretary to the Governor of New York, and became Cuomo's top aide and one of his closest advisers.[5][17][18][6][19] The role was described by The New York Times as the most powerful appointed official in the state, and she was the first woman appointed to the role.[1][18]
DeRosa was involved in steering bills through the legislature, including minimum wage, paid family leave and expanded insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization.[20][1][15] She was chair of the New York State Council on Women and Girls and head of the COVID-19 maternity task force,[1] and in 2017, DeRosa spoke publicly about her experience with sexual harassment and encouraged women to "speak up and speak out."[21] DeRosa also chaired the New York State Domestic Violence COVID Task Force.[22]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she had a major role in the coordination and management of the New York response.[20]
In March 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York when testing was significantly limited, the governor's family, people with political connections to the governor, and family of his top administration officials, including DeRosa's father, received access to priority rapid coronavirus testing and fast results, according to The New York Times.[23] In May 2021, federal prosecutors began to investigate the priority testing program as a potential improper use of their position to obtain “privileges or exemptions”.[23] State officials said DeRosa contacted the health commissioner, Howard Zucker, and requested her father be tested after he was exposed to someone with COVID-19 who had recently been hospitalized and died. The state officials said the Health Department granted the request due to his daughter's close and regular contact with the governor and others involved in the pandemic response.[23][24]
In March 2021, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that a group of Cuomo administration officials, including DeRosa, rewrote a July 2020 report from public health officials that resulted in undercounting nursing home deaths from COVID-19 in New York. The actual number of deaths was removed soon after DeRosa and Linda Lacewell became aware of its inclusion in the report.[25][26] New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report in January 2021 that indicated the original published death toll was less than half of the 15,000 deaths attributable to COVID-19.[27] According to the Cuomo administration "the out-of-facility data was omitted after D.O.H. could not confirm it had been adequately verified" and the conclusions of the report were not changed.[26][25]
DeRosa resigned as Secretary to the Governor on August 8, 2021.[28][29][30] Her resignation was effective August 24, the same date as Cuomo's resignation after a report from the state's attorney general concluded he had sexually harassed nearly a dozen women.[31][30] The report found that DeRosa had "spearheaded efforts to retaliate against one of the women who had spoken out publicly about her allegation."[30]
Public image
The New York Times described DeRosa as Cuomo's enforcer for "engaging in bare-knuckled political brawling," and said she was "known for delivering blistering tirades" according to current and former Cuomo advisors.[5]
In April, 2021, The New York Times reported that dozens of Cuomo employees alleged Cuomo and staff members, including DeRosa, would "scream and curse at subordinates over small stumbles, like misspelling names." Some employees reported crying at the office almost every week due to the toxic environment.[32] DeRosa's role in fueling a toxic workplace also featured in an August 3, 2021 report by the New York State Attorney General regarding the Cuomo sexual harassment allegations.[30][5] The report also described DeRosa "pressuring" a former staffer into calling a current staffer who expressed support for an accuser and recording the call as "a fishing expedition on behalf of the executive chamber.”[33][5]
DeRosa is mentioned 187 times in the report, more than anyone except the governor himself. It portrays DeRosa as "spearheading" the retaliation against Lindsey Boylan and attempts to discredit her after she made sexual harassment allegations against the governor.[5][34][33] In a recorded call involving DeRosa and the Albany Times Union, an editor told the governor’s office that the newspaper did not want Boylan's personnel file, but it was sent to them anyway. DeRosa also circulated a letter to current and former staff attacking Boylan and undermining her credibility.[5][30] DeRosa responded to the depiction of her in the report by saying "Haven’t you heard? Women aren’t allowed to be mad or fight — being tough and direct makes you a 'bitch.'"[5]
The report revealed a previously unreported accusation of sexual harassment made by a New York State Police officer, and DeRosa's attempt to kill a news story investigating if state rules were changed so the officer could join the governor's security detail even though she did not meet minimum experience requirements. DeRosa called the story "sexist". [5] A civil lawsuit against DeRosa arising from alleged retaliation against the officer was dismissed in 2023.[35]
The report concluded that despite "numerous" claims that arose about the governor's harassment of young female staffers, DeRosa was not depicted as going to lengths to investigate them.[5]
Post-public office
DeRosa opened a consulting business providing services including crisis communications, executive operations, and government affairs strategy.[36] She is a contributor to the Daily Beast and provides political commentary and analysis, appearing on Fox News, CNBC, and NewsNation.[37][38][39][40][41] In 2025, she was an advisor to Cuomo's campaign for Mayor, and she serves as a member of Cornell University's Communications Advisory Board.[42][43]
In October 2023, DeRosa released a memoir, What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis.[44][45] Kirkus Reviews described the book as "An angry, raw, and briskly told memoir."[46] A review by Lloyd Green in The Guardian states, "DeRosa's memoir is pocked with scenes of a marriage gone south, of trying to cope with Covid-19 and of general governmental strife. She punches hard. Her anger is white hot. Her book is deliberate and focused."[47] According to a Publishers Weekly review, "While this glowing defense of Cuomo will appeal to his supporters, it's unlikely to mollify his detractors."[48] According to Semafor, DeRosa threatened to sue New York Magazine for their review of the book.[44]