Former RI Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner takes interim VP role at CCRI

Former Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner has joined the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI)’s leadership team after working a part-time summer gig at the community college.

Tanner will serve as the school’s interim vice president for workforce and institutional advancement. She told Rhode Island Current on Wednesday that her new role gives her a chance to address the concern she heard most frequently from businesses during her three years leading the state’s commerce department.

“The number one concern that I heard from RI businesses when I was Secretary of Commerce was for trained and skilled employees,” Tanner said Wednesday via email. “Leading Workforce Partnerships for CCRI will give me the opportunity to fulfill that need.”

The appointment was announced internally in an email shared with the faculty and staff Tuesday by CCRI President Rosemary Costigan.

Tanner takes over for Barbara Nauman, who is returning to her previous role as associate vice president of academic affairs, a role she had stepped away from to lead the school’s workforce and institutional advancement wing.

Nauman is filling the role vacated by Dr. Marianne Raimondo — former-Gov. Gina Raimondo’s sister who came on to lead CCRI’s academic affairs in February — to go work in the state’s Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner, according to Costigan’s email.

Tanner’s salary, official start date, and the length of her appointment were not immediately available Wednesday. The specifics of Tanner’s new job, meanwhile, involve connecting CCRI with employers, developing short-term credential programs and overseeing and formulating new and established ways to help students enter the workforce.

Whatever her time in the role, Tanner said, “My priority is building a great team that can work at the speed of business and have as many Rhode Islanders get skilled training that will allow them to have good jobs that will support their families.”

The new role marks a return to a state paycheck for Tanner, who served as commerce secretary under Gov. Dan McKee from 2022 to 2025 before departing to lead Rhode Island’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with the nonprofit Ocean State 2026. Costigan’s announcement noted Tanner’s plentiful experience with “executive leadership across state government, economic development, and business,” including the oversight of and responsibility for six state and quasi-state agencies plus a $40 million budget in her time as commerce secretary.

Previously, Tanner served as executive vice president of client services from 2015 to 2017 at the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, followed by five years leading the Department of Business Regulation before McKee enlisted her to head Commerce in 2022.

Tanner’s bachelor’s degree in political science is from the University of Rhode Island, and her law degree is from Western New England University School of Law. She also has an executive education certificate in strategic management of regulatory and enforcement agencies from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Applications for the permanent position opened for submissions Tuesday and will close on Sept. 29. According to the job posting, the permanent position has an annual salary range of between $200,000 and $219,000.

When asked if she would be interested in being considered for the permanent position, Tanner did not directly say whether she would like to apply, instead offering, “I would be honored to be able to work with President Costigan on the Workforce Innovation Center — and see that dream become a reality.”