President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to nominate the following key additions to his Administration:
David Bernhardt of Virginia to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Bernhardt is a native of Rifle, Colorado. He is an avid hunter and fisherman. He recently served on the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has previously served as the United States Commissioner to the International Boundary Commission, U.S. and Canada. From 2001 and 2009, he held several positions within the Department of the Interior, including, after unanimous confirmation, serving as Solicitor, which is the Interior’s third ranking official and chief legal officer. Currently, Mr. Bernhardt chairs the natural resource law practice at Brownstein, Hyatt Farber and Schreck, LLP. Mr. Bernhardt earned a B.A. from the University of Northern Colorado. He graduated with honors from the George Washington University National Law Center and is admitted to various state and federal court bars. He is married to Gena Bernhardt. They have two children, and reside in Arlington, Virginia.
Pamela Hughes Patenaude of New Hampshire to be Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Ms. Patenaude is currently the President of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for America’s Families. Previously, she served as Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission. Ms. Patenaude earned her B.S. from Saint Anselm College and her Master of Science Community Economic Development degree from Southern New Hampshire University. Her awards include: HousingWire 2013 Woman of Influence and the Saint Anselm College Alumni Award of Merit 2006.
President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Appoint Personnel to Key Administration Posts
President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to appoint key additions to his Administration.
Jovita Carranza of Illinois to be Treasurer of the United States. Ms. Carranza currently is the Founder of JCR Group which provides services to companies and non-governmental organizations. She previously served as Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under President George W. Bush, after receiving unanimous confirmation. Prior to her service in SBA, Carranza had a distinguished career at United Parcel Service where she started as a part-time, night-shift box handler and worked her way up to be the highest ranking Latina in company history where she served as president of Latin America and Caribbean operations. Ms. Carranza earned her MBA from the University of Miami in Florida. She also has received executive, management and financial training at the INSEAD Business School in Paris, France; Michigan State University; and the University of Chicago.
Thomas DiNanno of Florida, to be Assistant Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Administration, Grant Programs, Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Dinanno is an accomplished executive with more than 20 years of management and consulting experience in both government and the private sector. He has successfully worked at the highest levels of Federal government in developing security and counterterrorism programs. Mr. Dinanno has served as a consultant to major chemical and petrochemical companies and security system and technology providers, including more than a dozen Tier 1 CFATS sites. From June 2004 to March 2007, Mr. Dinanno served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection at the Department of Homeland Security, where he was responsible for DHS initiatives to identify and protect the Nation’s physical and information infrastructure. Previously Mr. Dinanno served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff in the Department of Homeland Security, and in the White House Office of Homeland Security as Director of Corporate Relations from November 2001 to March 2003. Mr. Dinanno received his MS in Business and Urban Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999, an MA in Government Administration & International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy in 1993. He received a BA in Economics and Latin American Studies from Middlebury College in 1989.
Brock Long of North Carolina to be Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Long has more than 16 years of experience assisting and supporting local, state, and federal governments with building robust emergency management and public health preparedness programs. Since 2011, he has worked as Executive Vice President at Hagerty Consulting, where he provides strategic direction and leadership to the firm’s full complement of emergency management programs and professionals. Mr. Long has served as Project Executive for more than 50 projects in all parts of the United States, ranging from complex attack scenario exercises to designing multi-jurisdictional, all-hazard evacuation plans for major Urban Area Security Initiative designated jurisdictions. From 2008-2011, Mr. Long served as Director of Alabama’s Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) under Governor Bob Riley. As Director, he served as the State Coordinating Officer for 14 disasters, including eight presidentially-declared events. Mr. Long also served as an on-scene State Incident Commander for the Alabama Unified Command during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Prior to his position as Director at AEMA, Mr. Long was a FEMA Regional Hurricane Program Manager, FEMA Hurricane and Evacuation Liaison Team Leader, and statewide school safety coordinator for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. His areas of expertise include strategic emergency operations planning, exercise, evacuation, school safety, recovery management, and response logistics.
Richard Staropoli of New Jersey to be Chief Informations Officer, Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Staropoli most recently served as Managing Director, Counter-Party Risk/Chief Information Security Officer at Fortress Investment Group, a New York-based international hedge fund with approximately $80 billion in assets under management. In this role, he established a formalized program for conducting investigative due-diligence across the firm as it relates to Credit, Real Estate, Private Equity and Liquid Markets deals relying on traditional and non-traditional investigative and intelligence gathering approaches. Mr. Staropoli served as a Special Agent within the United States Secret Service (USSS) for 25 years. His tenure included service within the Presidential Protective Division, as Operator/Team Leader assigned to the USSS’s hostage rescue unit, the Counter Assault Team, and as the Chief of Polygraph Operations. In recognition of his service, he has received awards from the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security and the New York City Police Department. He also received a commendation from President George W. Bush for his actions in the White House on September 11, 2001. Mr. Staropoli holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from New York University.
Charmaine Yoest of Virginia to be Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Public Affairs. Dr. Yoest will serve as Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Yoest is a Senior Fellow at American Values in Washington, D.C. She earned a B.A. from Wheaton College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Government from the University of Virginia, where she received Mellon, Olin, Bradley and Kohler fellowships. She served as the Project Director of a national study funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which focused on paid parental leave in academia. Dr. Yoest previously served as President and CEO of Americans United for Life, a public interest law firm. She began her career serving in the White House under Ronald Reagan in the Office of Presidential Personnel. She also served as a Trump for President surrogate and as a Senior Advisor to the 2008 Huckabee for President campaign. Dr. Yoest and her husband are the parents of five children and live in Virginia.
President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Appoint the Following Individuals to be Members of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships
President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to be members of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.
- Robert M. Duncan and Designate Chair
- Aldona Z. Wos and Designate Vice-Chair
- Lee H. Bienstock
- Somers White Farkas
- Marlyn McGrath
- Damond R. Watkins
