Good news and a “first” — Chief Performance Officer Nancy Killefer
January 8, 2009
by Gretchen Glasscock
|I think it should be pretty clear by now that our U.S. government could perform a lot better. To say the least.
And one of the things which has often kept change from happening is that “good old boys”, the entrenched and entitled, are often fond of the “status quo”, whatever that may be. It’s what has kept them in office and empowered,and, lately, digging a deeper financial hole for ourselves. A trillion dollar hole, we now are discovering, with other trillions of dollars of debt to come.
Not a very good performance review.
So, when someone mentions “change”, I’m all for it. I’m particularly for it when “change” may be embodied and spear-headed by a particularly capable woman: Obama to tap new position.
That’s why, when I see President-elect Obama has created a new position, “chief performance officer,” to work on the federal budget and on reforming government, and is selecting a woman with credentials as long as your arm for the job, I am both relieved and glad to hear it.
The woman selected is Nancy Killefer, a senior director for management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, and former assistant secretary of the treasury in the Clinton administration.
Nancy Killefer is a senior director in the Washington, D.C. office of McKinsey & Company, Inc., and a leader of their Public Sector Practice, specializing in developing strategies and improving organizational effectiveness for government clients.
Killefer has the credentials, big time.
After receiving a B.A. with honors in economics from Vassar College and her M.B.A. from the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Killefer joined McKinsey in 1979. McKinsey, by the way, was once again named by Working Mother magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies” for working mothers. So, Killefer has selected an employer that offers a supportive environment for women, leading by example.
From 1997 to 2000, Killefer served as Assistant Secretary for Management, CFO, and COO at the United States Department of the Treasury. In addition to overall management responsibilities for Treasury’s 14 bureaus and 160,000 people, she led a major modernization at the Internal Revenue Service, prepared Treasury’s systems for Y2K, and reshaped management processes, including installing an asset management program across the Treasury Department.
After returning to McKinsey in 2000, she joined the IRS Oversight Board, a public-private entity akin to a corporate board that oversees the IRS. She served there from 2000 to 2005 and was its Chairperson from 2002 to 2004.
Yep. Ms. Killefer knows how to manage people and money. Evidently, she knows how to slice through bureaucracy to do it.
We get it: She’s good. That should always be the first bar. But we can see that it often hasn’t been. Performance during the Katrina crisis and other such catastrophic failures show us that selecting from “the old boy’s club” is a dicey proposition, a gamble that often does not pay off. And, when it fails, it takes us all down with it. Two wars and a recession, simultaneously, offer further evidence that this criteria for leadership is deeply flawed.
But Nancy Killeferis a lot more than her abilities. She brings her values.
Killeferis’ public service gives us a glimpse us into her values.
Killeferis seves on The Retirement Security Project, which released a paper recently on “Retirement Security for Women: Progress to Date and Policies for Tomorrow.” With half of all working women, due to lower wages and time off for child birth, saving an estimated $34,000 in IRA or 401(k)-style saving accounts, as compared to an estimated $70,000 for men, this paper offers an array of policy solutions aimed at closing the saving gap between men and women.
Ok. Ms. Killeferis is concerned about working women and the economic policies affecting them.
Even more convicing proof of Ms. Killeferis’ values and priorities is her service on the Board of Advisors of Catalyst. Catalyst is a premier organization which seeks to level the playing field for women by setting benchmarks and working with Fortune 500 and other companies to support them in achieving those goals.
(Catayst was founded at the beginning of the modern U.S. women’s movement and declared it was “time to fix the companies, not the women”. One of their research papers, released in 2005, for example, was Women “Take Care,” Men “Take Charge:” Stereotyping of U.S. Business Leaders Exposed.)
We don’t know very much about Nancy Killeferis yet. But we like what see. And this is change we can believe in.
Cross-posted at Advancing Women.
I’m glad of the gender chosen to fill the new position but its a new position with no history, no heritage, no culture and that mean’s a constant battle with long entrenched agencies all vying for budget money and power – a woman with alot of brains and talent in a fluff position is better than no woman in said position. Our hope still lies in grassroots movements such as NA.
gee, she does sound really solid, and I like the job position. imo it refers back to two elements of the campaign–McCain saying he would utilize Palin to reform government agencies, and Obama saying he would approach government reform with a scalpel.
enter the scalpel
I hope this works out, it’s really encouraging, but one key will be how well she’s supported when she locates government excess/corruption.
Gretchen – Thanks for this piece. I had heard about her but knew very little. This article was extremely informative. And, while any new position faces unique challenges, this is a start. We shall see how it unfolds.
goesh – I wouldn’t assume this position is “fluff” because it’s new. I’m a super anxious, worrier, glass-is-half empty, skeptical, critical sort of person, but even I have a sense of let’s see what happens! If I can do that, anyone can!
Gretchen, thank you for this intellegent and interesting piece on Nancy, since I knew nothing about her!
Yes there will be challenges, but aren’t we (women) used to that.? After all, in history, we’ve had few roadmaps to guide us…and now another challenge is just that.
So I wish her the best and will watch her take the bull..and run with it.
Is it my imagination, or do threads that are highly emotional and very anti-Obama more interesting than those that are about something positive and/or highly informative in ways that stretch beyond Obama hate.
I did not support Obama. And I distain much about him. But if we don’t get past what I see as an obsession about Obama, Clinton and Palin I fear we will remain stuck and flailing in the wind.
Women’s issues can be tackled on many fronts.
What groups is TNA collaborating with at this point? How can we start to move forward in creative ways in addition to responding to Obama’s decisions?
hi, Anna…
it’s true all eyes will be on Obama–he’s president. but one creative way of moving forward in addition to watching what the President does in regard to women’s issues would be to also pay close attention to our state and local government, who’s running for (and being elected) to those positions, and what are those people saying and doing about women’s issues.
sexism is pervasive, stubbornly rooted in our history, and growing like a weed in our immediate neighborhoods–domestic violence, for example. then there are our places of business, our local schools and how attitudes towards women (including girls’ attitudes about themselves) are being shaped from the get-go.
I agree. there’s plenty we can do, and should do. but that does include watchdogging the POTUS, regardless of who’s in that position and whether or not we voted for him. and the people who did vote for him have to be realistic about that. the President of the United States is just about the last person who’s ever going to get a pass on scrutiny, regardless of issue.
one other perspective about the POTUS. every four years anywhere from approximately 41 to 49.5% of the population is unhappy with who’s occupying the WH. the country always survives without 100% needing to achieve lockstep.
the public figure under the microscope in a discussion doesn’t have to be the POTUS, either. I’d feel the same way if I made a comment about Rick Warren and sexism, and one of the conservative members took it as a signal that I needed to be reconciled with Jesus.
imo the people Americans need to be reconciling with are other Americans. this country has been polarized by wingnut control of both major parties for too long, and we can’t keep letting ourselves be torn apart by politicians, or their supporters.
Go Vassar! (My college).
KayJL
Love to read your posts! I’m figuring there’s a lot of focus on Obama now because 1) he’s about to be sworn in as our next President, and 2) there’s a lot of left over anger about how things went down with the Democratic party this year. But, I hope that once Inuaguration Day has passed, and while we will of course need to follow what any President is doing as far as women’s issues go, that we will broaden what we’re paying attention to AND focus on what TNA has stated to be a specific goal for 2009, which is domestic violence.
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