White House Press Release - President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

•      Mimi E. Alemayehou, Executive Vice President, Overseas Private Investment Corporation

•      Elizabeth McGrath, Deputy Chief Management Officer, Department of Defense

President Obama said, "I am grateful that these experienced and dedicated individuals have chosen to fill these important roles in my administration. I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come."

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:

Mimi E. Alemayehou, Nominee for Executive Vice President, Overseas Private Investment Corporation

Ms. Alemayehou was most recently the United States Executive Director at the African Development Bank (AfDB) where she was responsible for executing Board decisions on behalf of the United States government. Ms. Alemayehou served as the most senior US Treasury official in Africa and was instrumental in pushing for reforms to make the Bank more transparent and to engage more broadly with outside stakeholders. Prior to the AfDB, she was Founder and Managing Partner of Trade Links, LLC, a development consulting firm that worked with clients on emerging markets issues and promoting African exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Previously, Ms. Alemayehou was with the International Executive Service Corps where she managed a multi-country trade project in Africa. She also served as a Director of International Regulatory Affairs at WorldSpace Corporation, an emerging markets focused satellite telecommunications company. Ms. Alemayehou is a naturalized US Citizen; she was born in Ethiopia and spent her early years in Kenya before emigrating to the United States. Ms. Alemayehou holds a Masters degree in International Business and International Law and Development from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Elizabeth McGrath, Nominee for Deputy Chief Management Officer, Department of Defense

Elizabeth McGrath has served in the Department of Defense (DoD) for over 20 years; her experience spans a variety of business areas including systems acquisition, supply chain, financial and program management. Ms. McGrath currently serves as the Assistant Deputy Chief Management Officer for the DoD where she provides leadership for enterprise-level DoD business transformation and is focused on achieving increased efficiency, greater effectiveness, and improved performance in the Department's business enterprise policies, processes and systems. Ms. McGrath ensures the establishment of performance goals and measures for DoD business functions, is responsible for implementing DoD's Continuous Process Improvement/Lean Six Sigma efforts. She also performs acquisition oversight for large scale business Information Technology systems and oversees the development and implementation of the Business Enterprise Architecture. Ms. McGrath previously held numerous other financial, acquisition and program management positions within DoD and the Department of the Navy. Ms. McGrath holds a B.S. degree in Economics from George Mason University.