SAN FRANCISCO—City Administrator Carmen Chu today announced the appointment of Stephanie Tang as the Director of San Francisco’s Contract Monitoring Division (CMD). In this role, Tang will focus on ensuring fairness and economic justice in the City’s contracting process and strengthening the City’s Local Business Enterprise (LBE) program, which helps local small businesses compete for City contracts.
“Throughout her career Stephanie has placed equity at the forefront of her work,” said City Administrator Carmen Chu. “She started her career with the City and County of San Francisco at the Contract Monitoring Division (CMD) and was later promoted to the Port of San Francisco where she has worked tirelessly to open and daylight procurement opportunities for local businesses. I am thrilled to welcome Stephanie back to lead CMD and even more excited to work with her to strengthen the local business program.”
Tang brings extensive experience in soliciting contracts and managing programs to support small businesses. Tang first joined the City and County of San Francisco in 2016 as a Contracts Compliance Officer at the CMD, where she led the Local Business Enterprise (LBE) certification unit for over three years. In 2020, Tang began working as the Contracts and Procurement Manager at the Port of San Francisco. There, she oversaw $118 million in contracts and the competitive solicitations for real estate development at Piers 30-32 and Piers 38-40, with an expected project value of over $1 billion. She saw the deployment of the Port’s Micro-LBE Emergency Relief Program created to support the Micro-LBE community during the COVID-19 pandemic and served as a member of the Local Business Enterprise Advisory Committee (LBEAC).
"I’m looking forward to returning to CMD to advance economic opportunity for San Francisco’s micro and small businesses and promote fairness and inclusion in City contracting,” said Tang. “San Francisco offers incredible opportunities for local businesses to work on dynamic projects that enhance our City and provide services that San Franciscans depend on. I look forward to working with the LBE community and local business stakeholders to ensure that our local micro and small businesses have access to these rich opportunities.”
The Contract Monitoring Division of the City Administrator’s Office is responsible for overseeing City laws designed to protect equality throughout San Francisco’s contracting process. Through the Equal Benefits, Local Business Enterprise, and Contractor Development programs, CMD works to make sure the City’s contracting process advances equity and is carried out fairly, effectively, and efficiently.
“I am pleased to welcome aboard Stephanie Tang as Director of this critical office,” said Miguel Galarza, Chair of the San Francisco Local Business Enterprise Advisory Committee, which works closely with CMD to advise on issues and policies affecting the small business community. “Stephanie brings analytical expertise, negotiating prowess, and a passion for small business to advance the goal of growing contracting opportunities within the LBE community and, ultimately, improving the quality of life for San Franciscans. As we continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, I look forward to working with Stephanie and CMD to support and advocate for local small businesses.”
To date, CMD has certified 1170 businesses as Local Business Enterprises (LBEs). Through LBE certification and monitoring, CMD helps small businesses stay competitive in the City’s bidding process, including by providing “bid discounts” and “rating bonus points” when bidding as Primes, setting aside certain contracts for bidding by micro-certified firms, and providing free resources and technical help. Small businesses interested in becoming certified as LBEs can learn more on the LBE program webpage or view CMD’s LBE certification workshop.
CMD also oversees the Contractor’s Accelerated Payment Program (CAPP), which provides capital loans up to $250,000 to help LBE-certified contractors win and complete construction contracts with the City. The program, funded by the San Francisco Community Investment Fund, supports local small businesses to succeed in building capital and skills to secure commercial business loans in the future. To date, CAPP has approved 13 loans to Micro-LBEs to support with their City contracts and all loans are in good standing.
Prior to working for the City and County of San Francisco, Tang led organizing, change management, and strategic planning efforts as the Director of Organizing for Workers United (SEIU) and the United Auto Workers. She has worked on labor campaigns in the United States, Canada, and China and holds a Master of Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Tang resides in San Francisco with her family. She was one of the first “librarians” in the City to maintain a little free library for neighborhood book exchange.