President-elect Barack Obama named former government CFO Nancy Killefer to fill the newly created position of chief performance officer in his administration.
Killefer, who currently leads McKinsey & Company’s public sector practice as a senior director, also will be nominated as deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, the federal agency that advises the White House on federal policy, management, budgetary, and legislative issues.
In a news conference Wednesday Obama said the appointment is among the most important appointments he’ll make, noting that in 30 years Killefer has “built a career out of making major American corporations and public institutions more efficient, effective and transparent.”
Obama also commended her ability to streamline processes and wring out inefficiencies in both the private and public sector to save money for both taxpayers and consumers. In her new role, Killefer’s duties will include meeting with cabinet members and their staff and advising them on how to run their agencies more efficiently, transparently and accountably.
Killefer returns to government service after eight years at McKinsey. Her term at Treasury stretched from 1997 to 2000, both as chief financial officer and as chief operating officer and assistant secretary for management. During her time there she was responsible for the department’s 14 bureaus and 160,000 staff members.
She led a major modernization of the Internal Revenue Service, and helped redesign Treasury’s management process. After President Bill Clinton left office he appointed her to serve on the congressionally-established IRS Oversight Board, formed after taxpayer mistreatment scandals surfaced in the 1990s.
Currently, Killefer is a board member for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Partnership for Public Service, and Vital Voices, a nongovernmental organization for empowering female leaders and entrepreneurs.
The 55-year-old Killefer donated a total of $2,500 to Obama’s presidential campaign from 2007 to 2008, according to CQ Moneyline’s database of campaign contribution filings