The CDC Leaders

“Leadership is a serving relationship that has the effect of facilitating human development.”

—Ted Ward

Barbara Harris, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Barbara Harris, CPA, is CDC′s Chief Financial Officer and Acting Director of the Financial Management Office while leading a national search for a permanent Director.

As the Chief Financial Officer for CDC, Harris helps to ensure that the agency exhibits the highest degree of financial integrity and fiscal stewardship of the public funds entrusted to it. She is the executive official responsible for the proper execution of the budget—among the most complex in the Department of Health & Human Services, with over 200 programs, projects and activities. She provides proactive oversight of the processes and systems to ensure that funds are obligated to achieve the greatest public health impact in an accurate and timely manner. Under her leadership, CDC implemented the Unified Financial Management System (UFMS) and enhancements are ongoing to the Department-wide Oracle-based system. Another of Ms. Harris′ priorities is the Office of Management and Budget A-123 initiative, the federal government′s equivalent of Sarbanes-Oxley in the private sector, for internal financial controls. As a steward of the public′s funds, she is obligated to assure that CDC′s money is spent appropriately to ensure the public′s trust. A-123 will affect all the offices and coordinating centers.

Ms. Harris joined CDC as a Management Analyst with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in 1988. She is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a Bachelor′s Degree in Business Administration from East Tennessee State University. She began her career as a revenue agent for the Internal Revenue Service in both Johnson City and Knoxville, Tennessee. She initially came to Atlanta in 1988, taking a position at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), working in the Superfund program, and then joined ATSDR.

She and her husband Chris love to travel and are avid supporters of the University of Georgia football team.