Mayor John Cooper has named Sam Wilcox as deputy mayor for ‘policy & innovation; and Jennifer Rasmussen-Sagan as chief of staff.

Bill Phillips, who has served as deputy mayor and chief of staff since 2020, will continue with the Cooper administration on a part-time basis as special counselor to the Mayor.

Wilcox (who joins the administration February 28) will lead the mayor’s policy, communications and special projects teams to advance Mayor Cooper’s priorities in affordable housing, transportation, education, community safety and sustainability.

Wilcox joins the Cooper administration from D.A. Davidson, where he served as vice president for technology investment banking. Before that, he was an associate at a family investment office and a business analyst at Oak Street Health.

His local political experience includes serving as field director for Jeff Yarbro’s 2014 campaign for Tennessee state Senate, launching John Cooper’s 2015 campaign for Metro Council at-Large and helping to organize the community campaign to save Nashville’s historic Fort Negley Park.

Wilcox is a Harry S. Truman scholar, an Auburn University alumnus and a Middle Tennessee native.

Rasmussen-Sagan (after serving as a senior staff assistant to Mayor Cooper since 2020) is being promoted to chief of staff and will lead day-to-day operations at the Mayor’s Office and manage the mayor’s personnel.

Prior, she was director of marketing, brand management and public relations for D & JR Holdings and, before that, deputy chief of staff to then-Mayor Mike Fahey of Omaha. She has consulted, managed or worked for more than 10 campaigns for community, city and federal candidates.

Rasmussen-Sagan is a YWCA Tribute to Women award recipient and in Omaha was on the boards of the College World Series, the Omaha Metropolitan Entertainment Convention Authority and the Omaha Sports Commission. She is a University of Nebraska alumnadeputy mayor