WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced several political appointees to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The group will work alongside OPM civil servants in support of OPM’s mission and the Biden Administration’s commitment to build a federal workforce that reflects the diversity of America.

“President Biden made a promise to the American people that he would assemble diverse and talented teams that look like America, and today he continues to fulfill that promise,” said Chris Canning, incoming Chief of Staff. “We are looking forward to joining the hard working and committed civil servants at OPM to support and empower the federal workforce.” 

OPM works in several broad categories to lead and serve the Federal Government in enterprise human resources management by delivering policies and services to achieve a trusted effective civilian workforce, with over 80% of federal employees living and working outside of the Washington, DC area. 

OPM’s team of political appointees reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to diversity, with more than 85% of OPM First Week appointees identifying as people of color, women, or LGBTQ. Additional members of the Biden-Harris appointee team will be named in the days and weeks to come.

Kathleen McGettigan, OPM’s Chief Management Officer, will serve as Acting Director of OPM until a permanent director is nominated and confirmed. 

The leadership team is listed here in alphabetical order along with their new role: 

Chris Canning, Chief of Staff

Theodora Chang, Special Assistant to the Director

Jim Cho, Deputy Director, Congressional, Legislative, and Intergovernmental Affairs

Margot Conrad, Executive Director, Chief Human Capital Officers Council and Senior Advisor to the Director

Lynn Eisenberg, General Counsel

Jane Lee, Senior Advisor to the Director

David Marsh, Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff

Curtis Mejeur, Senior Advisor to the Director for Technology and Delivery

David Padrino, Executive Director, Office of Human Capital Data Management and Modernization

Tanya Sehgal, Special Counsel and Senior Advisor

Robert Shriver, Associate Director, Employee Services

Jason Tengco, White House Liaison

Mini Timmaraju, Senior Advisor to the Director

Shelby Wagenseller, Press Secretary

Biographies of the new team are listed below:

Chris Canning will serve as OPM's Chief of Staff, the principal advisor to the Director responsible for day-to-day management of the agency's workforce, operations and external affairs. From 2013 to 2015, he served as a Senior Advisor to the Director of OPM and, more recently, as an Executive Vice President in the public affairs division of DKC Public Relations. Chris previously held senior roles at the Democratic National Committee and on President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. He is a graduate of Georgetown University.

Theodora Chang has worked in a number of roles in public sector and nonprofit organizations, including DC Public Schools, the U.S. Department of Education, the Center for American Progress and most recently the Partnership for Public Service. She also served as an advisor to the Director of the National Park Service at the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama-Biden administration.

Jim Cho has over 12 years of congressional experience, serving as Chief of Staff to Representatives Norma Torres (CA-35) and Lois Frankel (FL-21). During his career, he worked on appropriation bills to fund OPM, collective bargaining for federal employees, and COVID relief legislation. Jim earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Miami, where he was a James Michener Fellow, and B.A. in History from American University. 

Margot Conrad spent the last fifteen years at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization focused on making the federal government more efficient and effective. Most recently she served as Director for Government Affairs and previously led the Federal Recruiting and Hiring Programs team. Margot also spent time at the White House Office of Management and Budget on a detail during the Obama-Biden administration and spent time at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She holds a BA in Political Science from Wellesley College and an MSc in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from the London School of Economics.

Lynn Eisenberg most recently served as Deputy General Counsel for the Biden-Harris campaign and as Counsel to the Biden-Harris transition team. Previously she worked as a Counsel in the Strategic Response group of the Washington, D.C. office of WilmerHale, focusing on crisis management, congressional investigations, litigation, and internal investigations.  She served as Associate White House Counsel in the Obama-Biden Administration. Lynn has a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from NYU School of Law.   

Jane Lee most recently served on the Biden-Harris Transition team and was the Chief Operating Officer at 1560 LLC. Lee served as OPM’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer, supporting the agency’s performance, financial, and human capital management under the Obama-Biden administration. She also worked at Facebook, Deloitte Consulting, Obama for America, and an education-focused non-profit organization. She has also worked for local and state governments. Jane earned her MBA and BA from Northwestern University and her MPA from Harvard University. 

Dave Marsh most recently served on the Biden-Harris transition team. Before the transition, Dave was the Senior Manager for State and Federal Policy at the Markle foundation and an advocacy lead at the Pew Charitable Trusts working to advance criminal justice reform. During the Obama administration, he was special assistant to the Director of OPM and an advisor to the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget. Dave received his BA in political science from Williams College.

Curtis Mejeur has modernized services across the government. He was recently the Chief Delivery Officer of a tech startup focused on serving government agencies. Prior to that he worked at OPM restoring agency systems. Prior to his time at OPM he served at OMB.

David Padrino most recently served in Governor John Hickenlooper’s Administration as Colorado’s first Chief Performance Officer. Before state government, David spent over seven years at the Boston Consulting Group and worked at New York City’s Workforce Investment Board. David has an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a BA in History from Vassar College and was a Coro Fellow in New York City.

Tanya Sehgal comes from Relman Colfax, a civil rights law firm. Prior to this, she spent several years working as Senior Elections Counsel on the Committee on House Administration, Coordinated Campaign Counsel for Hillary for America, and as an attorney at JPMorgan Chase and Skadden Arps. She has a B.A. in International Relations from Brown University, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Rob Shriver worked at OPM as a political appointee in the Obama-Biden Administration, first as Deputy General Counsel and then as Assistant Director for National Healthcare Operations. He was a key member of the White House team that implemented the ACA. He then ran marketplace operations for the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority. Rob spent the first 13 years of his career as a lawyer at the National Treasury Employees Union. Rob joins OPM from IdeaCrew, Inc., an IT firm specializing in health benefit exchange technology. Rob is a graduate of Virginia Tech and George Washington University Law School

Jason Tengco recently served as the Chief of Staff for the Biden-Harris campaign’s Coalitions Department and then was the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Outreach Lead on the transition team. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, National AAPI Outreach Director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, and Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on AAPIs. Jason has a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA and a Master’s in Public Affairs from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.

Mini Timmaraju comes From Comcast Corporation where she served as the Executive Director for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team. Her prior roles include National Women's Vote Director for Hillary for America, Chief of Staff for Congressman Ami Bera, and leadership positions with Planned Parenthood and the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. Mini is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the University of Houston Law Center.

Shelby Wagenseller comes to OPM from Signal Group DC where she was a Vice President in the firm’s communications practice.  Prior to that, she served as the Deputy COO of the 2020 Democratic National Convention Committee, Deputy Press Secretary at the Department of Agriculture during the Obama-Biden administration, and also worked on the 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee, and President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Shelby has a B.A. in political science from Davidson College.