Tonya Webster, Chief Customer Experience Officer
Tonya Webster was appointed Chief Customer Experience Officer of the New York State Office by Governor Kathy Hochul in September 2023. The creation of this important position was first announced in the Governor’s 2023 State of the State address and is part of an overall plan to make government work better for all New Yorkers. Webster is the first Governor-appointed Chief Customer Experience Officer in the country and has more than two decades of executive experience leading customer experience transformations for governments and the private sector.
As Chief Customer Experience Officer, Tonya is charged with improving how residents interact with New York State government, working alongside State agencies to ensure that the customer is at the center of services being delivered to the public.
Since her appointment, Tonya Webster continues to build on a number of ongoing initiatives centered around customer experience within New York State government, including improving the enrollment and shopping experience for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); accelerating and improving access to important tax credits, including a new free tax filing tool for eligible New Yorkers; expanding access to childcare assistance; speeding up the launch of improved communication platforms designed to make interacting with State agencies simpler and more efficient; and expanding the state’s teams of user researchers, designers and digital professionals to ensure that online transactions are user-friendly, understandable, accessible and adequately serving New Yorkers.
Tonya Webster has over two decades of executive of experience leading business operations and spearheading customer experience transformations. She most recently served as Senior Vice President of Service for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and the former Chief Customer Officer for the health plan focused on providing better access to health coverage with a focus on maternal health disparities. Prior to her role with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Tonya was the Vice President of Customer Experience for Comcast where she worked on initiatives such as rural broadband and reducing the digital divide for customers.
Tonya holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and an MBA in Finance from Our Lady of the Lake University. She currently resides in Albany, NY with her husband and two children.
Meet the Staff
Abbey Kos
Deputy Chief Customer Experience Officer
Abbey Kos was appointed Deputy Chief Customer Experience Officer by Governor Kathy Hochul in March 2025. A trained user researcher and content strategist, she has more than 15 years of experience leading digital transformations for federal, state, and local governments across the United States and the United Kingdom.
Abbey joins the Executive Chamber from Amazon Web Services, where she managed Amazon’s digital experience portfolio for state and local governments nationwide. Prior to that she served as Director of Strategy at 18F, the White House’s “gold standard” of government transformation. While at 18F, she founded the agency’s service design team and led content for the first government-wide response to COVID-19.
Before her work in and for the state of New York, Abbey spent five years in London leading content for FutureGov (a transformation agency dedicated to improving local government social services) and Doteveryone (a responsible technology think tank led by Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho), as well as 10 years leading public affairs campaigns in Washington, DC. She is a frequent university guest lecturer, including at Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Michigan, and previously served on the board of Technologists for the Public Good.
Abbey holds degrees from Hiram College in Ohio and the London School of Economics and Political Science. She lives in Brooklyn.
Samantha Slusher
Empire State Fellow
Samantha K. Slusher (she/her/hers) is an Empire State Fellow serving in the Office of Customer Experience within the Executive Chamber. In this role, she is dedicated to refining and enhancing services to better meet the needs of all New Yorkers.
Prior to entering state service, Samantha served as the Director of the Equity in Infrastructure Project, where she engaged with efforts to promote economic opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses and communities. With a background in marketing and communications, she brings a wealth of expertise to her current position. Her career is distinguished by her advocacy with a diverse range of organizations, including non-profits, labor unions, employee associations, and private entities.
Samantha holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary and a master’s degree from Columbia University. She is from Long Island and currently resides in Albany.
About the Office of Customer Experience (CX Office)
Governor Hochul established the Office of Customer Experience (CX Office) in October 2023 by appointing Tonya Webster as the first-ever Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO).
The goal of the CX Office is to champion a customer-centric culture and transform the way New York residents access services and benefits from the State. Simplifying processes and better leveraging technology will play a key role in the State's plan to reduce barriers to services and decrease wait times. The CX Office:
- Executes the Customer Service (CX) agenda and vision for New York State and liaises with agency executives to advance the strategy.
- Develops and publishes statewide policies, frameworks, and best practices for managing CX and improving service delivery.
- Assembles and coordinates multi-disciplinary teams, in partnership with agency leadership, to execute achievable service delivery projects that leverage human-centered design practices.
- Develops budget recommendations with appropriate agency and Division of the Budget staff to support long-term service delivery improvements, including investment in common technology platforms.
- Communicates project progress within State government and publicly.
- Elicits New Yorkers' and NYS agency employee feedback frequently and regularly.