Ex-Murphy aide now working at Amazon

Kathleen Frangione, who stepped down as Gov. Phil Murphy’ chief policy advisor in May, has landed at Amazon.

She is working on environmental policy for online retail giant, according to her LinkedIn page.

Amazon announced in June that they had committed to powering their operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, with a goal of reaching net zero carbon by 2040.  The company claims they reach 42% renewable energy last year.

Murphy was brought Frangione to New Jersey after the 2017 gubernatorial election to head his policy shop.

Frangione was the lead staffer on climate change issues in John F. Kerry’s U.S. Senate office, and then a senior policy advisor on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  She left Kerry in 2010 to become Executive Vice President of Signal Group Consulting, a government relations and public affairs firm with an impressive book of business.

She spent a month as acting Commissioner of Environmental Protection in 2018 when Catherine McCabe was out of the country.

After Murphy’s chief of staff, Peter Cammarano, resigned in December 2018, Frangione as on the short list of candidates to replace him.  She was not interested in the job, the Globe reported at the time, although she served as acting chief of staff in between Cammarano’s last day and the arrival of George Helmy.

She was replaced as chief policy advisor by Dr. Zakiya Smith Ellis.  She had been serving in Murphy’s cabinet as New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education.