National Journal - October 19, 2013
As the chief budget officer for the Special Inspector General for Mghanistan Reconstruction, known as SIGAR, Melissa Wilf will take over management of an unprecedented reconstruction effort by the federal government, one that outstrips U.S. investment in Germany after World War II. Since the antiterrorism fight began, the United States has poured $100 billion into Afghanistan, “the largest reconstruction investment in history,” Wilf says. And federal agencies have requested $10.7 billion for fiscal 2014.
Wilf, who was most recently a high-ranking budget officer in the Homeland Security Department, has watched defense and security budgets fluctuate wildly over the course of her career. When DHS was created in 2002, it was “seriously underfunded,” she says. From 2005 to 2010, the department experienced a period of “extreme growth,” its ledger boosted by wartime supplemental funds. Now, as a result of sequestration, DHS is once again strapped for cash.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, WIlf found her first job at the Omnicom Media Group, where she managed a $200 million budget for Hershey. Over time, however, she came to realize that her passion ”wasn’t necessarily driven by profit any longer,” Wilf says. After completing the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs-whose noted alums include Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California-she received a master’s degree in public policy and management from CarnegieMellon University.
The 32-year-old, who describes herself as a “steward of the people’s money,” served as chief of staff in the Office of Budget and Program Performance at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, followed by a stint as chief of staff in ICE’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
C.S.H.