About the CFO
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, and Chief Financial Officer
The Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, and Chief Financial Officer establishes systems and provides guidance to ensure the effective preparation and presentation of sound budget estimates and financial management information for the Department; reviews policy, program, and legislative proposals to evaluate their impact on departmental budget resource and financial management requirements and plans; and provides policy guidance and oversight of departmental financial management personnel, programs, activities, and operations.
The Office also directs and coordinates all budget development and execution activity. Further, the Office is responsible for designing and implementing the financial systems required for accurate and timely financial reporting, and for establishing financial and accounting policy and programs for the Department.
Key Officials
- Christopher P. Bertram, Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs and Chief Financial Officer
- Lana T. Hurdle, Deputy Assistant Secretary
- Sylvia Garcia, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget
- David J. Rivait, Deputy Chief Financial Officer
- Laura M. Ziff, Director, Office of Budget and Program Performance
-
Gregory A. Brown, Deputy Director for Budget and Program Performance
- Robert Owens, CPA, Director, Office of Financial Management
Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs and
Chief Financial Officer
Christopher P. Bertram
Christopher P. Bertram is the Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, and Chief Financial Officer, for the United States Department of Transportation. As Assistant Secretary, he is responsible for the development and oversight of the Department’s more than $70 billion budget and the oversight of the financial and performance management of 12 agencies and 4 credit programs. Mr. Bertram serves as Vice Chair of the Department’s Credit Council, which oversees a credit portfolio of approximately $10 billion. At the Department of Transportation, Mr. Bertram implemented President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and was instrumental in drafting the Department’s surface reauthorization proposal. Mr. Bertram’s unique experience at multiple levels of government contribute to his vast expertise in transportation policy and being an acknowledged expert in the area of Federal infrastructure budgeting and finance.
Until August 2009, Mr. Bertram served as a senior professional staff member with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In that position, he was involved in developing legislation related to aviation, auto and highway safety, transportation security, pipelines, railroads, and fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
Prior to joining the Commerce Committee, Mr. Bertram was the Federal Aviation Administration's Assistant Administrator for Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer. He has also served as Staff Director for the House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, and in various positions at the Office of Management and Budget.
Mr. Bertram earned a Bachelor’s degree from Trinity University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Lana T. Hurdle
Lana Hurdle is Deputy Assistant Secretary. As a senior member of the Assistant Secretary's team, Lana manages the Federal performance and budget processes for twelve separate Operating Administrations as well as for the Office of the Secretary. During her service, the Department has been ranked by the Mercatus Institute among the top two Federal agencies for its annual Performance and Accountability Report. In 2006, Lana received the prestigious Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Award for her contributions in financial management throughout her Federal service.
Background
Prior to her current assignment, Lana served as the Chief Financial Officer for the United States Peace Corps for three separate Peace Corps Directors. She was the senior financial management official overseeing all financial management services spanning 77 countries world-wide. As the Peace Corps CFO, she received the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program Donald L. Scantlebury Award for exceptional and sustained leadership in improving financial management and internal controls at the Peace Corps following a successful major reorganization of Peace Corps’ financial operations. This was one of three awards given among all Federal and State government agencies annually. She also received the Inspector General’s Award for promoting economy, effectiveness and efficiency at the Peace Corps.
Lana began her Federal government career at the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President where she served most recently as Budget Examiner for the United States Coast Guard, the Federal Trade Commission, and the National Transportation Safety Board programs.
Lana received her Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia in 1977. She lives in Arlington, Virginia where she received the Arlington County Honored Citizen Award in May 1999 for her work with the Arlington County Public Schools. Lana and her husband Robert are the parents of two daughters Kelley and Whitney and two sons Max and Cashew.
Sylvia I. Garcia serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Ms. Garcia provides executive level management and oversight of the Department’s $72 billion budget. In this role, she advises the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs on budget and management issues and serves as a key liaison for the Department to Congressional Committees of jurisdiction, the Congressional Budget Office, and outside stakeholders.
Background
Until January 2011, Ms. Garcia was a professional staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Ms. Garcia’s portfolio included the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Secretary, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Maritime Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, and the Surface Transportation Board as well as parts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Before joining the House Appropriations Committee staff, Ms. Garcia was a budget analyst at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Ms. Garcia began her career at HUD as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF). As part of the PMF program, Ms. Garcia spent a year working on the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
Prior to joining the federal government, Ms. Garcia worked in the field of youth development and education in Chicago. Ms. Garcia has a Master’s Degree in Public Service Management from DePaul University in Chicago and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Deputy Chief Financial Officer
David J. Rivait
Since July 2010, David Rivait has served as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the United States Department of Transportation. As Deputy CFO, he is responsible for DOT’s financial management activities, internal controls, and the Department’s financial systems. Prior to this assignment, he was the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Associate Administrator for Budget and Programs, and CFO. While at MARAD, he was also Chairman of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Fiscal Oversight Board, established to help reform the school’s financial operations and budget.
Background
Before his tenure at DOT, Dave served for 16 years in various budget positions in the Executive Office of the President. This included assignments at the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, where he was Associate Director. His federal career also included duties at the Treasury Department as Assistant Director and CFO of the Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture, one of Treasury’s law enforcement organizations.
Dave graduated in 1982 from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois with a degree in Economics. In 1984, he earned a Masters Degree in Public Policy from what is now the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He began his career in 1984 as a Presidential Management Intern in the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury.
Director, Office of Budget and Program Performance
Laura M. Ziff
Gregory Brown is currently the Deputy Director for Budget and Program Performance, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation. Since 2010, Mr. Brown has functioned in a senior level role that provides leadership, advice and guidance to the Office of the Secretary in the development, implementation, and administration of Department’s budget, financial management and performance management.
Mr. Brown is the former Chief Administrative Officer for the Maryland Transportation Authority. In this capacity, Mr. Brown directed all agency administrative functions including information technology, procurement, human resources, and inventory control. Mr. Brown joined the Maryland Transportation Authority in September 2000 as the Director of Intergovernmental Projects and has also served as the Assistant Executive Secretary.
Prior to joining the Authority, he served as Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia’s Department of Corrections. Previously, he was Branch Chief for Public Education and Community Services with the District’s Office of Budget and Planning and also held fiscal oversight positions with Baltimore City Community College, the National Association of State Budget Officers, and the Maryland General Assembly.
Greg holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics from Morgan State University.
Robert Owens, CPA
Robert OwensRobert Owens is the Director, Office of Financial Management of the United States Department of Transportation. Since June 2011, Bob has managed a team that supports the CFO and DCFO in managing risk through implementing and monitoring dotprodotgovfinancial management and internal control policies across DOT. Bob oversees the preparation of the DOT’s annual CFO Act financial statements and reports. Other responsibilities include managing processes to self-assess internal control effectiveness and implement mitigation strategies to manage control risk and reduce improper payments. Bob also championed risk based process improvement strategies to comprehensively address long-standing internal control and compliance challenges.
Before joining DOT, Bob held various financial management and accountability positions in the public and private sectors. Responsibilities at the Government Accountability Office included work on audit of the Government’s consolidated financial statements as well as reviews of related preparation and systems issues. Bob also led multidisciplinary teams in conducting congressionally requested audits of federal programs and activities at numerous departments and oversight reviews of the use of Recovery Act funds in states and localities.
Prior to his work with GAO, Bob managed teams that designed and successfully implemented a five year strategic plan that achieved the first ever CFO Act audits of the government-wide benefit programs administered by OPM. In the private sector, Bob was a partner in a large international accounting and consulting firm with executive level responsibility for managing the delivery of all professional services – audit, consulting, litigation support and other – for public and privately owned organizations.
Bob is a Certified Public Accountant. He holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from George Mason University and a Juris Doctor Degree from the George Washington University – National Law Center.
MISSION
To provide leadership, advice and guidance to the Secretary in the development, implementation, and administration of Department’s budget, financial management and performance management.
VISION
To continually improve the financial management, budget formulation and execution, and program performance of DOT.
