Mayor Tim Kelly announced on Friday that Mande Green will be named the new permanent Chief Operating Officer (COO) of city government.
Ms. Green first joined the City as Chief Human Resources Officer in December 2021 after holding several leadership positions for the government of Clark County, Wa. She has served as interim COO since June 2024.
“Mande has been excellent in the COO role since she came on as interim in June, and it’s great news for Chattanooga that she’ll be staying in the role long term,” said Mayor Kelly.
“Under her leadership, we’ve already seen increased urgency in delivering city services and making improvements to key city infrastructure. And I know the best is yet to come now that she’s taking the job on a permanent basis.”
“I want to thank Mayor Kelly and the more than 2,000 employees of city government for trusting me with this responsibility,” said Ms. Green. “I believe in the mayor’s vision for One Chattanooga, and I’m committed to doing my part to see it implemented. In particular as COO, I’ll work to make more progress toward providing responsive and effective local government, which is the foundation of everything else we do.”
Mayor Kelly also congratulated the UTC Research Institute on its hiring of Chattanooga Deputy COO Julia Bursch as the Research Institute’s new COO.
“While we’re sad to be losing Julia at City Hall, this is a well-deserved step up for her and she’ll continue to help move our city forward in her new role,” said Mayor Kelly. “UTC’s success is Chattanooga’s success. This brilliant hire by Dr. Mina Sartipi at the Research Institute gives me confidence that UTC is on its way to fulfilling its potential as a top tier research university.”
Ms. Bursch started with Mayor Kelly as deputy chief of staff when he took office in April 2021, before being named Deputy COO when the mayor re-organized his senior staff in November 2021. Her last day with city government will be Sept. 5.
“While I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater, it’s hard to leave Mayor Kelly, Mande, and the entire team at city government at a time when we’re seeing years of hard work pay off,” said Ms. Bursch. “But in my role at the city, I’ve seen how vital UTC’s success is to Chattanooga’s success. The Research Institute is doing innovative work to cement Chattanooga as a leader in quantum and mobility technologies. I leave city government filled with pride for everything we’ve been able to accomplish as a team, and I look forward to working with Mayor Kelly’s administration as a supportive community partner.”
According to UTC, the Research Institute was established to advance R&D and experiential learning profiles in key cross-disciplinary areas like transportation and quantum. The Institute bolsters the University’s focus on building cross-disciplinary teams and catalyzing partnerships to establish enduring programs of excellence for R&D areas that can’t be solved using a single-discipline approach.