Justice Management Division
Serving Justice - Securing Results

Karin O’Leary
Director of Budget, Department of Justice

Since May 2007, Karin O’Leary has served as the Director of Budget with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).  In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing the development, execution and program performance of the Department’s budget of over $23 billion.  She represents DOJ on the government-wide Budget Officers Advisory Council and she is the Department’s agency lead on the Performance Improvement Initiative (PII), as part of the President’s Management Agenda.  As a result of Karin’s PII leadership, she guided the Department to achieve a “Green” score in the second quarter of FY 2006 and maintained this status through the fourth quarter of FY 2008; the only DOJ scorecard manager to accomplish this feat.  In 2007, Karin was recognized for leadership and outstanding performance with the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, the Justice Department’s second highest award for employee performance.

In May 2005, Karin was promoted to the Senior Executive Service as DOJ’s Deputy Director of Budget for Programs and Performance.  Karin previously served for four years at the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Section Chief in the Office of Resource Management where she led budget planning and development.  Preceding her position at DEA, she served as Controller and as Special Assistant to the Trustee for Strategic Planning at the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, an independent federal agency she helped establish in 1997.  In 1995, Karin was appointed as a Presidential Management Intern at the U.S. Department of Justice, Justice Management Division, where she served as a management analyst and as a budget analyst.  Prior to this position, Karin served at the Corporation for National Service where she assisted with the launch of the AmeriCorps program and she supported the efforts of federal partnerships and K-12 programs.

Karin earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a certificate in Public Administration from the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and a Master of Public Administration degree from the American University in 1995.