President Biden Announces 11 Key Nominations

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following 11 individuals to serve in key roles:

• Biniam Gebre, Nominee for Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget
• Andrew Fois, Nominee for Chair of the Administrative Conference of the United States
• Susan Tsui Grundmann, Nominee for Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority
• Kurt Rumsfeld, Nominee for General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority
• Javier Saade, Nominee for Chair of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
• Dana Bilyeu, Nominee for Member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
• Leona Bridges, Nominee for Member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
• Stacey Olivares, Nominee for Member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
• Kathy Im, Nominee for Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• Tom Rothman, Nominee for Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• Elizabeth Sembler, Nominee for Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Biniam Gebre, Nominee for Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget

Biniam Gebre is a Senior Managing Director at Accenture and Head of Management Consulting for Accenture Federal Services. He has spent the past two decades helping dozens of organizations within both the public sector and private sector address management, operational, and technology issues ranging from agriculture to banking to artificial intelligence. He served in the Obama-Biden administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he focused on access to credit for low-income families, FHA’s financial health, and revitalizing public housing properties.

Gebre came to the United States as a refugee at the age of nine and grew up in public housing and on government assistance. He graduated with Highest Honors from Williams College, where he earned a B.A. in Chemistry and was a Goldwater Scholar. He also earned an M.B.A in Finance and Economics from Northwestern University. Gebre sits on the Board of Pathfinder International. 

Andrew Fois, Nominee for Chair of the Administrative Conference of the United States

Andrew Fois is an attorney with a 36-year legal career in public service, the non-profit sector, and private practice. He is an Attorney Advisor in the Office of Legislative Affairs in the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. Prior to that position, he was the Deputy Attorney General for Public Safety in the Office of the Attorney General for Washington, D.C.  In 2020, Mr. Fois was appointed by the Mayor to the D.C. Clemency Board.  He has served at the Department of Justice on three occasions in five positions, including the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs and Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he prosecuted hundreds of cases.  His experience on Capitol Hill includes service as the Chief Counsel of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime.  He has worked for the National Crime Prevention Council as a solo practitioner and as a partner in the Venable law firm. 

Mr. Fois also serves on the board of directors of the Catholic Coalition for Special Education.  He has previously served on the boards of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program and the National Association of Children of Addiction. He served as Chairman of the D.C. Commission on Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention and the D.C. Coalition against Drugs and Violence.  He has been a frequent author, legal adjunct professor and commentator on radio and television.  He is active in his parish as a lector and Eucharistic Minister and was a founding member of the disabilities ministry and a member of the parish council.  Mr. Fois earned his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A. from Georgetown University.  He also holds a master’s degree in American Government from the University of Essex in the U.K.  He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and has two adult sons.

Susan Tsui Grundmann, Nominee for Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority

Susan Tsui Grundmann currently serves as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, where she oversees the administrative dispute resolution process and provides education to both employing offices and labor unions that represent employees in the legislative branch.  Previously, she was nominated by President Obama to serve as a Member and Chairman of the MSPB.

Ms. Grundmann has served as General Counsel to the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), which represents 100,000 Federal workers nationwide and is affiliated with the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers. At NFFE, she successfully litigated cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. She represented NFFE and the United Department of Defense Workers Coalition, which consists of 36 labor unions, and served on the Coalition’s litigation team in a coordinated response to proposed personnel changes at the Department of Defense (DoD). In addition to DoD employees, Ms. Grundmann represented employees in the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Passport Service, Veterans Administration, General Services Administration, and some 25 additional Federal agencies.

From 2003 to 2009, she was a regular instructor on Federal sector labor and employment law at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Hollywood, Maryland. Prior to joining NFFE, Ms. Grundmann served as General Counsel to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the judges of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, and later worked in both private practice and at the Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund. Chairman Grundmann earned her undergraduate degree at American University and her law degree at Georgetown University Law Center.

Kurt Rumsfeld, Nominee for General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority

Kurt Rumsfeld is currently the Chief Counsel to Ernie DuBester, the Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.  From September 2013 through February 2019, Mr. Rumsfeld served as the Assistant General Counsel for Operations and Legal Policy for the FLRA’s Office of General Counsel.  His responsibilities in that role included assisting the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel in managing the OGC’s regional operations and providing legal advice pertaining to the administration of the FLRA’s governing Statute. 

Before joining the FLRA, Mr. Rumsfeld practiced labor and employment law with a private law firm for over 17 years, and he began his career in labor law as an attorney-advisor with the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Rumsfeld received his B.A. in political science from Williams College, and his law degree from Northeastern University Law School.  He also has an LL.M degree in Labor and Employment Law from Georgetown University Law Center. 

Javier Saade, Nominee for Chair of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board

Javier E. Saade is a principled leader with three decades of broad experience as an investor, board member, founder, operating executive and economic policymaker. He served on the Biden Transition’s Agency Review Team for the Department of Treasury and served as Associate Administrator of Investment & Innovation of the U.S. Small Business Administration during the Obama Administration. He led programs that, since their inception, have invested over $120 billion in hundreds of thousands of American small businesses that have created millions of jobs. Javier also served in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions’ Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.

Javier is Managing Partner of Impact Master Holdings and Venture Partner at Fenway Summer. He has served on several corporate and non-profit boards. Prior to public service, he spent over twenty years in finance, management and advisory roles at organizations that include McKinsey & Company, Booz Allen & Hamilton, Bridgewater Associates and Abbott Laboratories. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS in Operations & Technology from Illinois Institute of Technology, and a BS in Industrial Management from Purdue University.

Javier grew up in Puerto Rico and resides with his family in Washington, DC.

Dana Bilyeu, Nominee for Member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board

Dana Bilyeu is the Executive Director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) and has been in that role since 2013. Before joining NASRA, she served as the Executive Officer of the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Nevada (2003 – 2013). As Executive Officer, she was responsible for all aspects of fund management, including analysis of plan funding, investment oversight, operational and strategic planning, and fiduciary and governance issues. Prior to her appointment as the Executive Officer, Ms. Bilyeu served eight years as the Operations Officer for the System, overseeing benefit administration, including survivor, disability, and retirement programs. Before joining Nevada PERS, Ms. Bilyeu was the System’s general counsel in the Office of the Nevada Attorney General, representing the System in benefits litigation, contracts analysis, board governance and fiduciary issues.

Ms. Bilyeu is in her second term on the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB). Ms. Bilyeu also served as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board from 2007 through 2010. The Advisory Board is an independent, bipartisan board created by Congress and appointed by the President and the Congress to advise the President, the Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs.

Ms. Bilyeu is a public employee board member of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and also serves as a board member for the National Institute on Retirement Security. She received her juris doctor from California Western School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona.

Leona Bridges, Nominee for Member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board

Leona M. Bridges is a Commissioner for the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, where she serves as chair of the deferred compensation committee. She is a former Director for the Municipal Transportation Agency and Commissioner for the San Francisco Parking Authority of the City & County of San Francisco, where she continues to serve on the Bond Oversight Committee. For more than two decades, Ms. Bridges was a Managing Director at Barclays Global Investors (acquired by BlackRock in 2009), becoming the world’s largest asset manager of combined assets. During her career in the financial services industry, she focused on asset management as it related to global securities lending/trading, collateral management, custody services, client service, and business development. Additionally, she was responsible for establishing and maintaining civic and community relationships.

Ms. Bridges holds an MBA from Golden Gate University Ageno School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from San Francisco State University. She established an endowed scholarship in the College of Business to support economically and educationally disadvantaged students at San Francisco State University. Ms. Bridges serves on various community and non-profit boards. She is the recipient of many professional, community, and prestigious national awards.

Stacey Olivares, Nominee for Member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board

Stacie Olivares is on the board of directors of the Mission Advancement Corporation (NYSE: MACC) as its Audit Committee Chair, the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), and CalPERS. At the nexus of capital markets, technology, and policy, Olivares works to expand markets, optimize returns, and democratize capital to advance environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion outcomes in our global economy. She is one of the few Latina Chief Investment Officers in the United States.

Olivares was the Chief Investment Officer of Lendistry, a fintech small business lender, from 2019 through 2020, and senior advisor on blockchain and impact investment to the world’s four-largest insurance market from 2018 to 2019. Earlier, Stacie led ESG investments as the Chief Investment Officer of COIN, a $29 billion ESG investment fund of the insurance industry, from 2011 through 2018, and as an ESG-focused portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley from 2008 through 2011. She entered capital markets with a global lens after leading the State of California’s economic advisory board from 2002 to 2007 and advancing global licensing and business development for Palm, Inc., from 2000 to 2002. Olivares serves on the advisory board of SUMA Wealth and on the board of directors of the University of California at Berkeley, College of Letters & Science, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and the Latino Community Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in business and government from Harvard University.

Kathy Im, Nominee for Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Kathy Im is the Director of Journalism and Media at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She manages a $25 million annual portfolio that is best known for supporting public media, nonprofit journalism, and documentary storytelling. During Im’s tenure, the program has deepened and expanded its investments in the creation, dissemination, and amplification of accurate, just, and inclusive news and narratives across three areas of media — professional nonprofit reporting, nonfiction multimedia storytelling, and participatory civic media — with the goal of informing, engaging, and activating Americans to build a more equitable future.

Im is a recognized leader in philanthropy and media. She is a member of the Board of Jurors for the Peabody Awards, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and a former board member of Media Impact Funders, the Center for Asian American Media, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. She is the author of several editorials and essays about press freedom, diversity in media and journalism, and the connection between media and democracy. Kathy earned her Master’s in Public Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, where she is currently a member of the Harris Council, which advises the Dean. She earned her Bachelor’s in Government Studies from Smith College. Im lives in Chicago with her husband, Young B. Im, and their three children.

Tom Rothman, Nominee for Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Tom Rothman, one of the global media sector’s most experienced executives, is Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group. Chairman since 2015, he oversees all of the studio’s worldwide businesses, including historic Columbia Pictures. Previously, Rothman served as Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, having spent 17 years in various positions at 20th CenturyFox, including founding Fox Searchlight Pictures.  Earlier in his career, Rothman was President of Worldwide Production for the Samuel Goldwyn Company and Executive Vice President for Columbia Pictures.  Before joining Columbia, Rothman was a partner at the New York law firm Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein and Selz, having clerked on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  

Since 2013, Rothman has served on the Board of Directors of Booking Holdings Inc., the world’s largest online travel agency. He is a member of the National Council on the Arts and has received The Corwin Award for Human Relations from the American Jewish Committee.  He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on multiple non-profit boards.  Rothman received lifetime achievement recognitions from the Producers Guild of America and the IFP East, and Columbia University honored him with the Arthur B. Krim Award for outstanding leadership.  He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Brown University in 1976 and from Columbia Law School in 1980 as a two-time James Kent Scholar, the school’s highest academic honor.

Elizabeth Sembler, Nominee for Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Elizabeth Sembler of Seminole, Florida is a retired Jewish educator and school administrator.  She most recently served as the director of engagement at Congregation B’nai Israel in St. Petersburg, Florida. Ms. Sembler has previously served on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, appointed by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. She served as chair of the board from 2014-16. She has served on the board of Tampa, Florida public television station WEDU-TV since 1993 and was the chair of its board from 2001-2003. From 2006-2008, she served on the board of the America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), a nonprofit group that supports the continued growth and development of a strong and financially sound noncommercial television service.

Ms. Sembler co-chairs the board of advisors of the Davidson Graduate School of Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, New York, and serves on the board of directors and is past board chair of the Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg in Florida, a privately funded middle school for students qualifying for needs-based scholarships. She serves as vice chair of the board of directors of the Florida Orchestra, and recently joined the boards of Congregation B’nai Israel in St. Petersburg, the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College, and the Tampa Orlando Pinellas [TOP] Jewish Foundation in Tampa, FL.

###