On March 22, 2022, Mayor Jim Kenney announced that former Temple University administrator Anne Nadol has been named the city’s new Commerce Director. 

In the role, she will be in charge of economic development, policies to support small businesses, as well as attracting larger ones to the city — all key to the city’s continued COVID-19 pandemic recovery. 

This position has been vacant since Michael Rashid’s resignation in December 2021. Nadol will officially begin on March 29, 2022.

Nadol previously served in various leadership positions at Temple University, including Vice President and Secretary to the Board of Trustees and Assistant Vice President. She worked at Temple for over 20 years and served under five University Presidents before leaving in August 2021. 

This will not be her first time working for the City of Philadelphia, however. Before going to Temple, she worked as the Assistant Deputy Mayor in the Office of Policy and Planning, as well as Special Assistant in the Office of the Chief of Staff. Nadol also served on the board of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) as the Mayoral and Chamber of Commerce appointee. 

Nadol also has experience at the federal level, working in the Department of Commerce as a Presidential Management Fellow for the International Trade Administration. 

“With her expertise in both the public and private sectors, and her track record of forging collaborative, cross-sector partnerships, I’m confident that Anne is the right person to help Philadelphia’s business community continue to rebound and set our city up for an equitable recovery in the months and years ahead,” said Mayor Kenney. 

In the announcement statement, Nadol expressed excitement to build upon previous work and create opportunities for businesses in the city. 

“I’m honored and humbled to help champion Philadelphia’s small businesses, which are the backbone of communities across the city. As the City’s economic development driver, the Commerce Department is just one critical piece to the larger business ecosystem, and it will take enhanced and focused collaboration across all sectors as we work to drive an inclusive and equitable recovery,” Nadol stated.

She received her Bachelor’s in Political Science and Government for Franklin & Marshall College. She received one Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in International Affairs, and another from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania for Government Administration.