President Biden Announces Key Nominees
WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his administration:
- Carol Spahn, Nominee for Director of the Peace Corps
- Robin Hutcheson, Nominee for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, Department of Transportation
- Jaime Lizárraga, Nominee for Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission
- Mark Uyeda, Nominee for Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission
- Vincent Logan, Nominee for Member of the Farm Credit Administration
Carol Spahn, Nominee for Director of the Peace Corps
Carol Spahn is serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Peace Corps, and was officially Acting Director from January 20, 2021 until November 16, 2021. Under her leadership, the agency is returning Volunteers to overseas service after being evacuated for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the agency created a domestic service initiative for only the second time in Peace Corps’ history, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support vaccination campaigns across the United States, and launched a new strategic plan which focuses on re-imagining service, advancing equity, and delivering quality. Prior to serving as Acting Director, Spahn served as Chief of Operations in the Africa Region covering Eastern and Southern Africa, and before that, served a five-year term as Country Director of Peace Corps Malawi. Her Peace Corps roots extend back to her service, with her husband, as a Volunteer from 1994 to 1996 in Romania where she served as a Small Business Advisor shortly after the fall of communism.
Before returning to the Peace Corps as Country Director, Spahn was Senior Vice President of Operations at Women for Women International. Prior to that, she served as Executive Director of Accordia Global Health Foundation. She also served as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer of Small Enterprise Assistance Funds. Spahn has held positions at leading private sector institutions, including GE Capital and KPMG Peat Marwick. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America and a master’s degree in international development from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.
Robin Hutcheson, Nominee for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, Department of Transportation
Robin Hutcheson currently serves in the Biden-Harris Administration as the Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). She was previously appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety Policy for the U.S. Department of Transportation where she led the development of the National Roadway Safety Strategy and was instrumental in the development of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, especially the new Safe Streets and Roads for All program.
Prior to being appointed to the Biden-Harris Administration, Hutcheson was the Director of Public Works for the City of Minneapolis, overseeing a team of 1,100 people across nine divisions including drinking water, surface waters and sewers, solid waste and recycling, fleet management, and all transportation functions. Prior to her appointment in Minneapolis, she served as the Transportation Director for Salt Lake City, UT, working to improve all modes of transportation. Hutcheson also has served as a transportation consultant, and has worked throughout the western United States, and in Europe. Hutcheson served for seven years on the Board of Directors for the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), most recently serving as its President. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s degree from the University of Utah.
Jaime Lizárraga, Nominee for Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Jaime Lizárraga currently serves as Senior Advisor to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In this role, he oversees issues relating to financial markets, housing, international financial institutions, immigration, and small business policy. He also serves as the Speaker’s liaison to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Throughout his 31-year public service career, Lizárraga has advised Congressional leaders and heads of executive agencies on policy and legislative strategy. He previously served on the Democratic staff of the House Financial Services Committee, and as a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lizárraga has played key roles in numerous successful legislative initiatives, including the Build Back Better Act, the American Rescue Plan, COVID relief legislation, omnibus appropriations bills, the Dream and Promise Act, the PROMESA Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the Economic Emergency and Stabilization Act of 2008, and many others. Lizárraga graduated from the University of California, San Diego with high honors, and earned a master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. The son of immigrant farm workers, Lizárraga was raised in San Diego. He lives in Virginia with his wife and five children.
Mark T. Uyeda, Nominee for Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Mark T. Uyeda is a career attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He is currently on detail from the SEC to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where he serves as Securities Counsel on the Committee’s Minority Staff. He has over 25 years of experience in corporate and securities law, including 18 years of public service working in federal and state government. Uyeda joined the SEC in 2006 and has worked in various capacities, including as Senior Advisor to Chairman Jay Clayton and Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar, and as Counsel to Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. He has also served as Assistant Director and Senior Special Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Uyeda has been recognized with multiple SEC awards, including the SEC Chairman’s Award for Excellence and the SEC Capital Markets Award. He is a past Chair of the SEC Asian Pacific American Employees Committee.
From 2004 to 2006, Uyeda served as Chief Advisor to the California Corporations Commissioner, the state’s securities regulator. Before entering public service, Uyeda was an attorney in private practice with O’Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles, and Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP in Washington, D.C. He is a past President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, D.C. Area. Uyeda received his law degree with honors from Duke University and his undergraduate degree in business administration from Georgetown University.
Vincent Logan, Nominee for Member of the Farm Credit Administration
Vincent Logan, a member of the Osage Nation, currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer for the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF). NAAF is the largest U.S. philanthropic organization focused exclusively on the needs of Native American farmers and ranchers. Nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2014, Logan served as the Special Trustee for American Indians at the U.S. Department of the Interior. During his tenure, he was appointed to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Literacy Education Commission.
Logan has worked in New York in both asset-based financing as a lawyer and in asset management as an investment advisor. As a lawyer, he practiced in aircraft, shipping, and equipment finance. As an investment advisor, he worked with institutional clients in developing investment policies, diversification strategies, and sovereign wealth funds. He is an Oklahoma State University Foundation Governor, Director for The Christensen Fund, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Little Rock Branch. He has mentored numerous professionals, guiding them through careers in law and the securities industry. Logan was educated at Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma College of Law, and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. His partner is Dr. Steven Lieberman of New Jersey.
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