Jennifer López, Innovator and Product Development Leader, Joins The New York Public Library as Chief Digital Officer

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May 29, 2024—The New York Public Library (NYPL) announced today that Jennifer López has joined as Chief Digital Officer, starting on July 1. López will oversee the institution’s ongoing digital expansion that makes its collections and services accessible across the globe. She succeeds interim Chief Digital Officer, Stephen Betts.

López comes to NYPL from Capital One, where she held a number of positions since 2013. She was Vice President of Product Development, and a Venture Partner with its strategic investing arm, Capital One Ventures, overseeing seed investments in data, technology, and financial services startups. Before Capital One Ventures, Jennifer ran the Capital One Lab, exploring the intersection of emerging technology and finance through research and development. She led the Lab's software engineers, product managers, designers and subject matter experts incubating products, evaluating new markets, and assessing technologies with the potential to transform the company.

López's tenure at Capital One marked a significant era of technical innovation and advancement. She spearheaded the institution's design practice, a pivotal step in its digital transformation towards excellence in user experience, customer engagement, and cybersecurity. In addition, López is named on patents for improving systems, methods, and interfaces in the banking industry.

"At The New York Public Library, one of our main priorities is to make information and literacy accessible to all, and our digital platforms are a key tool to help us to reach more people across the world," said Tony Marx, President of The New York Public Library. "As our Chief Digital Officer, Jennifer will bring her unique blend of creativity, innovation, and leadership to propel the Library into the digital future. Her expertise will be instrumental as we enhance our digital offerings and expand access to information and resources for all. We're very excited for what's to come under Jennifer's leadership, and we welcome her to The New York Public Library."

The Chief Digital Officer is responsible for leading and executing a major digital expansion plan across The New York Public Library system, which includes 92 locations, a mix of neighborhood libraries and research centers. Among other duties, López will evaluate and integrate new digital initiatives, technologies, and products that are consistent with NYPL’s mission and priorities.

"We are in a unique moment where libraries are positioned to take on an even greater role to educate, lift up, and inspire," said Jennifer López. "The power of NYPL’s immense archives and collections and growing ebook offerings, the physical locations across the city, the digital tools, and the programming already put NYPL on the forefront of leading this charge. As a creative technologist and maker who has spent more than 15 years developing products and transforming organizations through technology, I am so honored to be able to build on that continuing legacy and unleash the potential of the library and its patrons."

With a background in fine arts and sculpture, López pursued an MFA in human-centered design and innovation at Stanford University. She has long worked to support underrepresented communities in the tech industry, has championed initiatives to increase Latinx representation in STEM fields, and has been a driving force behind diversity programs inside of Capital One.

López is currently a 2024 David Rockefeller Fellow at the Partnership for New York City, engaged in research with elected officials, leaders, and operators across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Through this immersive one-year fellowship, she will be honing her civic leadership skills to effect change in New York City.

About The New York Public Library
For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With over 90 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library receives millions of visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.