Lunch with the DHS CFOs: CBP, ICE & USSS

16 Feb Lunch with the DHS CFOs: CBP, ICE & USSS

Join WHS for an insightful look at the 2013 landscape given the budget, the politics and the need to achieve mission with Radha Sekar, CFO, ICE; Gwendolyn Sykes, CFO, USSS; and Deborah Schilling, CFO, CBP.

Radha Sekar
Associate Director of Management and Adminstration and CFO,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Radha Sekar is the acting executive associate director of Management and Administration and the chief financial officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Ms. Sekar oversees accounting and finance, budget, facilities and engineering, and asset management. Prior to joining ICE, she was the assistant deputy undersecretary for financial management for the undersecretary of defense comptroller In this capacity, she served as the senior advisor and assistant to the under secretary of defense (comptroller), responsible for maximizing synergies and capabilities both within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and defense-wide. Ms. Sekar has an extensive background in developing and implementing new and re-engineered business processes, defining and implementing business rules that lead to statutory compliances and commercial best practices, developing financial management policies and implementing business application systems that support them. She has more than 20 years experience practicing these principles in the public and private sectors. As the assistant deputy chief financial officer for the Department of Defense, she supervised department-wide financial improvement and audit readiness efforts, developed and implemented financial management regulations and policies, prepared the Department of Defense’s quarterly and annual financial statements and was responsible for the overall financial management improvement efforts of the Department of Defense. Ms. Sekar is a leader in defining and developing C4ISR-compliant technical and functional business enterprise architectures. She is a past partner at IBM Business Consulting Services and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
She is a graduate of State University of New York at Buffalo with a Master of Business Administration degree and a bachelor’s degree in computer science. She is also a charted accountant (similar to a certified public accountant) in India and holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from University of Madras, India.

Gwendolyn Sykes
CFO, U.S. Secret Service
As Morehouse College’s CFO, Ms. Sykes is responsible for budgeting, accounting and financial reporting, student financial services, financial aid, human resources, auxiliary services, investment management, internal control and the integrity of financial information. She previously served as Yale University’s Chief Financial Office, the first in that university’s 306-year history. Prior to Yale, she held the position of CFO at NASA, a Presidentially appointed position. Her government career also included experience in the Department of Defense and the Congressional offices of Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska. She holds a BA in accounting from Catholic University and an MPA from American University. Ms. Sykes now serves as an Adjunct Professor in American University’s School of Public Affairs. She has been recognized for her achievements by Black Enterprise, Newsweek, and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.

Deborah Schilling
CFO, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Ms. Schilling is an accomplished executive with a wide range of experience in the areas of performance management, financial management, budgeting, real estate investment, and asset management, both in the public and private sectors. She has the rare combination of twenty-five years of Federal Government experience and five years of private sector real estate investment experience. She is the current Chief Financial Officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Prior to coming to CBP, she served as the Director of Budget for the Department of Homeland Security where she managed a professional staff of 40 analysts.
As Executive Vice President for Alpine Realty Investments and the Senior Vice President for Acquisitions at Government Property Investors Inc., she was responsible for the acquisition of properties, both existing and to-be-built projects, throughout the United States and for leasing and property management. She acquired over 30 properties worth approximately $850 million, primarily office buildings leased to the Federal Government.

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