President Biden Announces Key Nominees

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his Administration:

• Basil Ivanhoe Gooden, Nominee for Under Secretary of Rural Development, Department of Agriculture
• Thomas G. Day, Nominee for Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission
• Patrice J. Robinson, Nominee for Member of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors
• Colleen Duffy Kiko, Nominee for Member (Republican) of the Federal Labor Relations Authority

Basil Ivanhoe Gooden, Nominee for Under Secretary of Rural Development, Department of Agriculture

Basil Ivanhoe Gooden currently serves as the Director of State Operations for the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Rural Development. Appointed to this position in July of 2021, he is responsible for providing leadership, support, and supervision to the 47 State Directors in USDA Rural Development. Gooden has led the efforts in planning and establishing the newly created State Operations Office in Rural Development. Before this, he served as the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2016 to 2018. As Secretary, he provided strategic vision and leadership to two of Virginia’s largest private industries, agriculture and forestry, with an annual economic impact of $91 billion on the Commonwealth. 

Prior to serving as Agriculture Secretary, Gooden served as the Virginia State Director for Rural Development at USDA, where he oversaw the allocation of approximately $1.25 billion annually to improve the housing, health, and economic well-being of communities throughout Virginia. In this position, he implemented policies to support asset-accumulation, homeownership, and wealth development in economically distressed communities. 

From 2002 until 2014, Gooden served as the Chief Deputy Director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). At DHCD, he worked with many diverse populations to create safe, healthy, and affordable housing. He worked to implement comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategies that rehabilitated existing houses, upgraded infrastructure, removed blighted structures, and increased new affordable-housing opportunities. Gooden received his B.A. in Political Science from Virginia Tech and a Master’s in Social Work from Syracuse University. He also holds a Master’s in Public Health and a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Thomas G. Day, Nominee for Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission

Thomas G. Day has 45 years of service in the federal government in both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Postal Service. During his 35 years at the Postal Service, he served in several senior roles, including Vice President of Engineering, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Senior Vice President of Intelligent Mail, and Chief Sustainability Officer. From 2007 to 2011, he also served as the Chair of the Standards Board at the Universal Postal Union – the U.N. Agency that governs the international exchange of mail.

Immediately following his retirement from the U.S. Postal Service in 2019, he began work at the International Post Corporation (IPC) in Brussels, Belgium. At the IPC he served as the Chief Commercial and Chief Financial Officer, and as Secretary to the Board of Directors. At the IPC he also chaired the Board of Advisors from the 25-member countries, which includes the U.S., as well as chairing three remuneration committees that governed the exchange of mail and packages among member countries.

Day is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a B.S. in Engineering. He has an M.A. in Management from Central Michigan University and was a Sloan Fellow at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University with an M.S. in Management.

Patrice J. Robinson, Nominee for Member of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors

Patrice Jordan Robinson was elected to the Memphis City Council in November 2015 as the District 3 representative. In 2020, she guided the Council through the COVID-19 pandemic as the Chairwoman. Since 2016, Robinson has chaired the Memphis City Council Memphis Light Gas and Water (MLGW) Committee. She also serves as the Council’s liaison for the MLGW Board of Commissioners and the Shelby County Aging Commission of the Mid-South. Robinson served on the Memphis City/Shelby County Schools Board of Education for 13 years, holding the title of board President in 2004 and 2007. Under her leadership in 2007, 127 schools were in “Good Standing”, the most significant number of Memphis City schools in good standing in the history of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). As a board member, she distinguished herself by chairing the Policy, Personnel, Audit, and Capital Improvements Committees. As a result of her efforts, Robinson earned the designation of Master School Boardsman in Tennessee. 

She earned a Master’s of Science from the University of Tennessee and a Bachelor’s Degree from Memphis State University. Robinson is a certified senior professional in human resources (SPHR). She retired as a Supervisor at Memphis Light Gas and Water Division. Most recently, Robinson was honored for her persistent efforts at the 2023 unveiling of the Georgette and Cato Johnson YMCA. The aquatics center was named in honor of her and her husband, Patrice & Jackie Robinson Natatorium. 

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Nominee for Member (Republican) of the Federal Labor Relations Authority

Colleen Duffy Kiko has served as Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) since December 2017. Kiko served as FLRA Chairman from 2017 until January 2021. Kiko has a long history with the FLRA, first working in its predecessor agency, the Labor Management Services Administration of the Department of Labor (DOL). When the FLRA opened its doors on January 1979, she began work in the Washington Regional Office investigating unfair labor practices. She ultimately moved into positions within the headquarters of the FLRA. From 2005 to 2008, Kiko served as FLRA General Counsel, having been nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Prior to her FLRA Chairmanship, Kiko served as one of the three permanent Judges of the DOLs Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), a position to which she was appointed in March of 2008. She previously served as an ECAB Judge from 2002 through 2005. Kiko has also served in the Justice Department as an attorney advisor in the Civil Rights Division and as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, in Alexandria, Virginia, as an Associate Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, as well as in the private practice of law.

Kiko holds a J.D. from Antonin Scalia Law School and a B.S. degree from North Dakota State University. She was born and raised in North Dakota, and she lives in Virginia with her husband, Phil. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

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