DoDEA

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA — August 28, 2007 — Leslye A. Arsht, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy (DUSD-MC&FP), today announced the selection of Mr. Kevin Kelly as the new Associate Director for Financial and Business Operations for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). The selection was made through a competitive process.

Mr. Kelly is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Administration with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environment, Safety and Health. Since his assignment to that position in 2005, Mr. Kelly has been responsible for overseeing financial management, project and contract controls, management and organization studies and information technology functions for the Energy Department's Office of Environment, Safety and Health.

With 34 years' experience in the military, private and government sectors, Mr. Kelly has extensive experience in programming, planning and budgeting for globally dispersed organizations; developing financial management policies and processes to effectively and efficiently control billion-dollar organizational budgets; coordinating with numerous federal agencies to include the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Defense (DoD). He is also well-versed in the areas of logistics, procurement, safety and security, information management and financial management.

A native of Long Island, N.Y., Mr. Kelly is a twenty-year veteran of the U.S. Army. He is extremely familiar with the home and school transition issues facing military families as they move, having had two of his three children attend DoDEA schools in Germany. Mr. Kelly graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., with a commission as an infantry officer. He later went on to receive his Master's Degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in the comptroller field from Syracuse University.

In announcing the selection which was made through a competitive process, Arsht said, "DoDEA has distinguished itself as a school system that improves continuously and operates effectively and Mr. Kelly brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and results in efficiently managing organizational budgets and effectively coordinating diverse functions such as information technology, logistics, procurement, and security. Mr. Kelly's commitment to Servicemembers and their families and his leadership abilities are a perfect complement to DoDEA's leadership team, its staff and faculty. I'm confident he will skilfully manage DoDEA's financial and business operations to help educators and administrators as they guide students to achieve their highest potential."

DoDEA Director, Dr. Joe Tafoya, echoed those sentiments in talking about Mr. Kelly's selection.

"Our interview panel was impressed with the commitment and qualifications that Mr. Kelly displayed. Kevin's enthusiasm for our mission, his breadth of knowledge, and a sincere desire to better serve military families is impressive, said Tafoya. "Mr. Kelly has extensive experience in and out of government and his strong background in business operations and finances will be valuable to us as we work through the transformation, BRAC, and our own rightsizing of the DoDEA organization. It will be a big plus for DoDEA to have him join an already outstanding team"

As the Associate Director for Financial and Business Operations, Mr. Kelly will serve as the principal advisor to the Director, DoDEA, in the areas of programming, budgeting, accounting, reimbursable program management, procurement, information management and technology, safety and security, and logistics. Mr Kelly will have the authority and responsibility for developing, coordinating, integrating and executing financial management policies, programs, and processes for the effective and efficient control and utilization of over $1.7 billion annually. Additionally, he will provide management oversight necessary for directing the activities of the Resource Management, Safety and Security, Procurement, Logistics, and Information Management and Technology Divisions.

Kelly is looking forward to his new assignment serving military families and children.

"I'm looking forward to taking care of military families again," Kelly said. "DoDEA takes great care of students which allows Servicemembers to focus on their mission," he added.

Kelly's commitment extends beyond military families and reaches out to his new staff and colleagues.

"I want our children to have a great place to go to school and I want to make sure my role in managing DoDEA's budget, procurement, logistics and security provides the resources teachers and administrators need and takes care of their requirements as they educate our students," he said. "I want to make everyone's job better and easier."

Mr. Kelly will assume his new duties as DoDEA's Director of Financial and Business Operations with DoDEA in early September. He and his wife reside in Alexandria and have three grown children.

DoDEA directs, coordinates, and manages the education programs for Department of Defense (DoD) dependents who would otherwise not have access to a high-quality public education. DoDEA consists of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) located overseas, and the Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) located in the United States and its territories and possessions. DoDEA provides education to eligible DoD military and civilian dependents from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.