ST. PAUL, MN – Governor Mark Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith announced today that Joanna Dornfeld will serve as their new Chief of Staff. Ms. Dornfeld, who currently serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs, will replace outgoing Chief of Staff Jaime Tincher. Ms. Tincher today was appointed by Mayor-Elect Melvin Carter to serve as Deputy Mayor for the City of Saint Paul. 

 

Joanna Dornfeld brings over a decade of legislative, policy, and leadership experience to her new role as Chief of Staff. Ms. Dornfeld is widely respected at the State Capitol, and across the State of Minnesota, as an effective manager and talented strategist. She is uniquely adept at engaging a broad variety of stakeholders to find consensus on challenging issues, and achieve results for Minnesotans.

“Joanna Dornfeld will be a terrific Chief of Staff,” said Governor Dayton. “She is brilliant, dedicated, and incredibly hard-working. Joanna has earned the trust and respect of our Cabinet and staff, legislators, and community leaders across Minnesota. I have complete confidence in her.”

 

“There is no one better-suited to take on this important role,” said Lt. Governor Smith, who served as Chief of Staff from 2011 to 2014. “For more than a decade, Joanna Dornfeld has been making a difference at the State Capitol, and in communities across Minnesota. Her entire career has been dedicated to improving the lives of Minnesotans. We are delighted she will be leading our team as we continue to build an even Better Minnesota.”

 

Joanna Dornfeld today expressed her strong commitment to helping Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith achieve as much progress as possible in the year ahead to improve the lives of Minnesotans, and deliver on their vision for an even Better Minnesota. As Chief of Staff, Ms. Dornfeld will continue pushing the Administration’s priorities for investing in education and early learning, ensuring a fair, stable, and balanced state budget, improving aging infrastructure statewide, making health care more affordable, and securing clean water and cleaner energy for Minnesota’s future. In addition, she will continue to work in partnership with the state’s Chief Inclusion Officer and state agencies to make progress toward our state’s goals to diversify Minnesota’s workforce and contracting practices.

“I am proud of the work we have done together to improve the lives of Minnesotans,” said Dornfeld. “Governor Dayton, Lt. Governor Smith, the Cabinet, and our entire staff are excited about the possibilities to build on those successes in the year ahead. I am honored to continue serving the people of Minnesota in this new role.”

 

During her time in the Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor, Joanna Dornfeld has been instrumental in helping Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith secure a total $1.9 billion of new investments in E-12 education, including over $257 million in early learning initiatives designed to narrow Minnesota’s persistent achievement gaps. Those investments have ensured that over 22,500 young children across Minnesota were able to enroll this year in high-quality preschool programs, and that every year 55,000 kids (99.6 percent of all Kindergarteners) are now enrolled in all-day Kindergarten. 

 

Ms. Dornfeld has also played a leading role in enacting the Governor and Lt. Governor’s other budget and policy priorities, including: helping secure over $3.5 billion to improve the state’s aging infrastructure; securing new investments for economic development and job creation programs that have aided the expansion of Minnesota businesses and created tens of thousands of new jobs; expanding access to broadband infrastructure to connect more than 26,000 Greater Minnesota residences and businesses with high-speed, reliable internet; and much more.

 

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Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith today thanked Jaime Tincher for her years of leadership and service to the people of Minnesota. Ms. Tincher was named Chief of Staff in February 2014. She previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs.

 

“Jaime Tincher has been an outstanding Chief of Staff," said Governor Dayton. "She and Mayor-elect Carter will make a great team to serve the people of St. Paul."

“Serving as Chief of Staff to the Governor is one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs in Minnesota,” said Lt. Governor Smith. “Jaime Tincher has done the job extraordinarily well, with grace, intelligence, and a relentless vision for how our Administration could make a positive and lasting impact in the lives of all Minnesotans. She poured her whole heart and soul into making Minnesota better, and we are all better because of it. Jaime has earned the thanks of a grateful state. We are proud of her, and wish her and Mayor-elect Carter the best in their new challenge.”

 

During her time in the Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor, Jaime Tincher led the Administration’s efforts to build a Better Minnesota through investments in education, economic development, and job growth. Ms. Tincher helped secure many of Governor Dayton and Lt. Governor Smith’s signature accomplishments, including all-day Kindergarten, a balanced and responsible budget, marriage equality, and the first minimum wage increase in nearly a decade – raising the incomes of 325,000 Minnesotans.  

 

As Chief of Staff, Jaime Tincher renewed state government’s commitment to recruiting and retaining employees from diverse backgrounds, diversifying state business contracting, and promoting civic engagement. Because of those efforts, the State of Minnesota’s workforce has gone from just 8 percent workers of color in January 2011, to 12.3 percent today. These sustained efforts are continuing to make a difference toward reaching the Governor’s goal of 20 percent workers of color by January 2019.

 

Joanna Dornfeld has served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs since 2014. In that role, Ms. Dornfeld has overseen the Administration’s policy work – managing the efforts of the Governor’s policy team and Cabinet to establish responsible state budgets, grow Minnesota’s economy, and make important investments in education and infrastructure. Ms. Dornfeld joined the Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor in 2013, previously serving as Assistant Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs, where she helped manage the day-to-day operations of the policy team.

 

Before joining the Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor, Joanna Dornfeld served as a top policy advisor to Minnesota’s Revenue Commissioner, where she led efforts to make taxes fair for hard-working Minnesotans. Ms. Dornfeld also served the Public Policy Manager for the Minnesota High Tech Association, a 350-member trade association of Minnesota-based technology companies. From 2006 to 2012, Dornfeld held numerous leadership roles at the Minnesota House of Representatives, including serving as Executive Assistant to the DFL Caucus, Committee Administrator for the House Finance and Bioscience and Workforce Development committees, and House DFL Caucus Research Director.

 

Ms. Dornfeld is a graduate of the University of Minnesota (B.A. in political science and journalism) and the University of Minnesota Duluth, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Advocacy and Political Leadership. She lives in Saint Paul with her husband and two daughters.