Denise Clay
Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives

As senior adviser for strategic initiatives, Denise’s responsibilities include the facilitation, development, and execution of the Department of Finance’s strategic agenda; providing strategic counsel to the senior leaders of the agency; and driving change management, process reengineering improvements, and operational effectiveness across the agency. She leads project teams to successful outcomes that streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve the agency’s ability to generate revenue and enhance the customer’s experience.

Denise is the primary strategist behind the NYC cross-agency data sharing project, of which the Department of Finance is the lead agency. She and her team are unleashing the flow of information between agencies to strengthen analytical capabilities, enhance data-based decision making, and increase revenue generation potential. Other initiatives undertaken by Denise and her team include the establishment of the DOF customer contact center; the reengineering of the property exemptions, refunds, and apportionment processes; the creation and deployment of various employee training initiatives; the development of key performance indicators and a corresponding dashboard; the review, documentation, and validation of the agency’s standard operating procedures; and the implementation of a customer communications standardization process.

Denise earned her Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan and her Master of Business Administration at Columbia University. She is a GE-certified Six Sigma Black Belt, specializing in end-to-end operational and transactional processes.