In 2022, Sermaine “Coco” McLean was promoted to Chief of Staff by City Manager Parajon. McLean served as the Assistant to the City Manager since April 2015 actively supporting and upholding the City’s stated mission, vision, and values. McLean is responsible for the oversight of the Office of the City Manager leading a team of professionals. McLean began her career with the City in 1997, as an assistant to the then Director of Code Enforcement.  In 1998, McLean joined the Department of Information Technology Services as an Electronic Publishing Specialist II, where she worked on desktop publishing and the City’s first website.  She was promoted to a position at the Help Desk in 2004 and promoted three more times before reaching the level of Help Desk Program Manager.  Prior to joining the City, McLean worked in the federal government as the Executive Assistant to the Director of Privatization for Material Management at the Defense Logistics Agency. McLean was awarded an Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Dick Cheney for exemplary service.

McLean is currently attending George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership through the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Certification in Public Management Program. McLean graduated Cum Laude from Northern Virginia Community College with an Associate of Science Degree in Information Technology Systems. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland, University College.    

In 2011, she was selected by then-City Manager James Hartmann to receive the Alexandria Jaycees’ Judith E. Krasnow Award for Public Service.  That same year, she also completed the City’s Leadership and Management Institute (LMI). McLean is also an active member of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA) and the Project Management Institute (PMI).