Jeffrey Zients

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Jeffrey Zients
Jeffrey Zients official portrait.jpg
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Acting
In office
January 27, 2012 – April 24, 2013
President Barack Obama
Deputy Heather Higginbottom
Preceded by Jack Lew
Succeeded by Sylvia Mathews Burwell
In office
July 30, 2010 – November 18, 2010
President Barack Obama
Deputy Jeffrey Liebman (Acting)
Preceded by Peter Orszag
Succeeded by Jack Lew
Chief Performance Officer of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 19, 2009
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Position established
Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 19, 2009
Director Peter Orszag
Jacob Lew
Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Preceded by Clay Johnson
Personal details
Born (1966-11-12) November 12, 1966 (age 46)
Kensington, Maryland, U.S.
Political party Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Mary Menell
Children Sasha Zients
Matt Zients
Josh Zients
Jonny Zients
Alma mater Duke University
Religion Judaism

Jeffrey "Jeff" D. Zients (born November 12, 1966) is an American CEO, management consultant and entrepreneur. On January 17, 2012, he was named acting director of the Office of Management and Budget and assumed office on January 27, 2012. This is his second turn as acting director. In 2009, President Obama appointed him to the new position of United States Chief Performance Officer and was confirmed by the Senate to be Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget in the federal government of the United States.[1]

Contents

Early years [edit]

Zients was raised in an Jewish family[2] and is a native of Kensington, Maryland,[3] and lives in the Washington, D.C. area.[4] He graduated in 1984 from St. Albans School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude[5] from Duke University. Zients worked in management consulting for Mercer Management Consulting and Bain & Company until his appointment as chief operating officer of DGB Enterprises, a holding company for the Advisory Board Company, Corporate Executive Board and Atlantic Media Company.[5]

Zients was the chairman (2001–2004), chief executive officer (1998–2000), and chief operating officer (1996–1998) of the Advisory Board Company and former chairman (2000–2001) of the Corporate Executive Board.[6] Both companies were founded by David G. Bradley and provide research and advice to corporations around the globe on best practices in management, strategy and operations. Zients and Bradley took each of the companies public through successful initial public offerings that made both men multimillionaires.[4][7] At age 35, Zients was named to Fortune Magazine's "40 under 40" with an estimated wealth of $149 million.[8]

Zients also cofounded the Urban Alliance Foundation.

Later years [edit]

Zients founded[9] and was the managing partner of privately held Portfolio Logic LLC, an investment firm primarily focused on business services companies,[10] including Pediatrics Services of America, Incorporated doing business as PSA Healthcare.[11]

He was a member of the board of directors of XM Satellite Radio until its 2008 merger.[6][12] He was a board member at Sirius XM Radio until his Senate confirmation,[13] and also served on the boards of Revolution Health Group, Best Practices which outsources emergency medical services, and Timbuk2 Designs, a retailer of backpacks, apparel and messenger bags.[7][9][12][14]

Baseball [edit]

In 2005, he worked to bring Major League Baseball back to Washington with venture capitalist Fred Malek forming the Washington Baseball Club, one of eight[15] or nine groups vying to buy the Washington Nationals.[16] The club included Colin Powell, AOL founding CEO James Kinsey, attorney Vernon Jordan, Darrell Green formerly of the Washington Redskins, Fannie Mae chairman Franklin Raines[3][16] and others.[3] Malek was going to be the managing partner for the first three years when Zients would take over.[15] They came close to owning the team[15] but lost to another group led by the Lerner family.[6]

Chief performance officer [edit]

Zients has twenty years business experience[1] and specializes in advising companies on business practices.[9] According to Obama, his assignment is to help “streamline processes, cut costs, and find best practices throughout" the U.S. government.[1] Zients replaced Nancy Killefer who withdrew from her nomination to this position in February 2009 to avoid controversy about her personal income taxes.[17] His nomination was approved by the full Senate after a hearing on June 10, 2009, by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who voted unanimously to approve him.[18][19]

As the Chief Performance Officer, Zients leads the Obama Administration's "Accountable Government Initiative". Zients outlined the Initiative in a memo to the government's Senior Executive Service in the fall of 2010.[20] One primary area of focus is reforming how the government buys and manages information technology. To bring outside expertise into government, Zients organized a Forum on Modernizing Government at the White House in January 2010 that brought 50 private sector CEOs together with senior government managers and CIOs to discuss best practices in large-scale IT project management.[21] This session informed subsequent actions, including ordering a halt on all major government financial system projects until a review was completed to eliminate long-standing problems, reduce costs and accelerate the delivery of functionality to end users.[22] In November 2010, Zients announced an execution plan for overcoming the long-standing structural challenges that plague government IT.[23]

Deputy Director for Management (DDM) [edit]

In his role as DDM, Zients chairs the President’s Management Council [24] and served as OMB's Acting Director from July 2010 to November 2010.

Aneesh [Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer] and Jeffrey will work closely with our Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs. The goal is to give all Americans a voice in their government and ensure that they know exactly how we’re spending their money – and can hold us accountable for the results. —Barack Obama[1]

Personal life [edit]

While working at Bain, Zients reported to South African Mary Menell, four years his senior. They later were married in South Africa with Menell’s parents’ friend Nelson Mandela in attendance.[25] They have four children Sasha, Matt, Josh and Jonny.[26] The Zients are members of the Washington Hebrew Congregation.[27][28][29]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Barack Obama (April 18, 2009). Weekly Address: Efficiency and Innovation. Event occurs at 3:56.  and Obama, Barack (April 18, 2009). "(Transcript) Weekly Address: Efficiency and Innovation". The White House (whitehouse.gov). Retrieved 2009-04-19. [dead link]
  2. ^ The Jewish Daily Forward: "Meet the Four Jews Shaping the U.S. Economy" By Nathan Guttman February 28, 2013
  3. ^ a b c Shin, Annys (October 4, 2004). "Zients Is at the Top of His Game". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  4. ^ a b O'Keefe, Ed. "Who Are Jeffrey Zients and Aneesh Chopra?". The Washington Post (Tribune Company). Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  5. ^ a b "Advisory Board Co. 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. June 27, 2003. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  6. ^ a b c "Obama names Chopra, Zients to top posts". Washington Business Journal (Advance Publications). April 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  7. ^ a b O'Hara, Terence (August 31, 2007). "There's More Than Baseball in Jeffrey Zients's Days". The Washington Post (Tribune Company). Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  8. ^ Boorstin, Julia; Freedman, Jonah; Florian, Ellen; Krady, Scott; Levinstein, Joan; Miller, Matthew; Vazquez, Dana (June 2002). "America's 40 Richest Under 40". CNN. Retrieved 2010-11-11. 
  9. ^ a b c Nichols, Hans (April 20, 2009). "Obama Names Performance Officer, Vows to Trim Federal Spending". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  10. ^ "Portfolio Logic Management LLC". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2009-94-19. 
  11. ^ "Pediatrics Services of America, Incorporated.". Atlanta Business Chronicle. 
  12. ^ a b "Jeffrey D. Zients". Condé Nast Portfolio. Retrieved 2009-04-19. [dead link]
  13. ^ "Zients Resigns from Sirius XM Board". Radio Ink (MediaSpan). June 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 
  14. ^ "Jeffrey D. Zients Profile". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  15. ^ a b c Heath, Thomas (April 29, 2009). "Malek, Zients Are Big Hitters in an All-Star Ownership Lineup". The Washington Post (Tribune Company). Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  16. ^ a b "Powell Joins Group Bidding On D.C. Baseball Team". Jet 107 (24) (Johnson Publishing). June 13, 2005. p. 50. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  17. ^ Lunney, Kellie (April 20, 2009). "Obama Names Zients As CPO". National Journal Group. Retrieved 2009-04-20. 
  18. ^ Brodsky, Robert (June 22, 2009). "Zients confirmed as OMB's deputy director of management". GovExec.com (National Journal Group). Retrieved 2009-06-22. 
  19. ^ Meckler, Laura (April 20, 2009). "Administration Seeks to Target Wasteful Spending". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  20. ^ "Presidential Memorandum-Accountable Government Initiative | The White House". Whitehouse.gov. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2013-01-14. 
  21. ^ "President Obama Welcomes CEOs to White House Forum on Modernizing Government | The White House". Whitehouse.gov. 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2013-01-14. 
  22. ^ http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-28/obama-puts-3-billion-in-technology-deals-on-hold.html
  23. ^ Lipowicz, Alice (2010-11-19). "Zients outlines five strategies for improving IT management". FCW. Retrieved 2013-01-14. 
  24. ^ By KATHERINE REYNOLDS LEWIS, The Fiscal Times (2010-06-14). "OMB’s Zients Cuts Through the Red Tape". Thefiscaltimes.com. Retrieved 2013-01-14. 
  25. ^ Conservative Daily News: "Obama’s OMB Director Came From Bain Capital By Warren Beatty July 17, 2012
  26. ^ "Play Ball! Washington Baseball Club Celebrates Return of Baseball to Our Hometown" (Press release). Washington Baseball Club via Zoom Information. September 29, 2004. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  27. ^ Washington Hebrew Congregation Bulletin Volume 53, Issue 19 - October 29, 2012
  28. ^ Washington Hebrew Congregation Bulletin Volume 49, Issue 10 - April 7, 2008
  29. ^ Washington Hebrew Congregation Bulletin Volume 51, Issue 16 - September 27, 2010

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeffrey Zients
Political offices
Preceded by
Peter Orszag		 Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Acting
2010		 Succeeded by
Jack Lew
Preceded by
Jack Lew		 Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Acting
2012–2013		 Succeeded by
Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Seal of the Office of Management and Budget
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