Managing Director, Siebert Williams Shank & Co. · Austin, Texas
Eleven years running a school district’s money. Then five FINRA examinations in 248 days, and a first deal 49 days after I was registered.
I spent twenty-one years inside public-sector finance, eleven of them as chief financial officer of Austin ISD, running a $3 billion budget and capital program. Then I took the licenses and went to the other side. In my first two years at Siebert Williams Shank I originated $6.5 billion across 28 issuers as the originating banker, out of an office that did not exist before me. That figure is the issuers’ own total deal size, not my firm’s underwriting share and not my revenue: 12 of those 44 transactions my firm ran as lead or co-lead, $1.6 billion of the total, and we co-managed the other 32. I know these buyers because I was one.
From a standing start
- 49 days
- From registering with the firm to the issue date of my first transaction. The record’s delivery date for it is 76 days.
- $6.5B
- Originated across 28 issuers in my first two years, 13 November 2020 to 13 November 2022
- 61
- Texas public institutions I have done transactions for, 2020-11-13 to 2026-09-15
- 21 yrs
- On the buying side of public-sector finance, 1999 to 2020
- $3B
- Austin ISD budget and capital program, as chief financial officer
Par figures here are the issuers’ full deal sizes, across every role, and are neither my firm’s underwriting share nor my revenue. They are rebuilt from my firm’s extract of the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas transaction record through 2026-09-15; the Council records which firm underwrote each deal, and the originator attribution naming me is my firm’s rather than the Council’s. I have sat on the Council’s board since 2025. The full record, with the roles separated, is on Track Record.
Territory
Twenty-one years above the rule as the public-sector buyer. In November 2020 I crossed it and opened the firm's Austin office.
Every institution I have worked inside, been appointed to, or originate for, on one rule. Bars are tenure, never volume. Government positions run above the rule; the firm and its board run below it. Select any bar or mark for the entry.
Left of the rule · Public sector · the buyerRight of the rule · Market · the seller
TestimonyAppointment or boardAdvisory boardFairfax County Public Schools 2007 to 2008 · Atlanta Public Schools 2008 to 2009
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New York City Department of Education
- Role
- Director of Strategic Sourcing
- Years
- 1999 to 2003
Procurement leadership for a public school system. The first of five school systems on the record, and the role that put me on the buying side of a government sale.
DC Public Schools
- Role
- Director of Resource Allocation & Management
- Years
- 2003 to 2007
Budget and procurement leadership for the District of Columbia's public school system.
Fairfax County Public Schools
- Role
- Budget Director
- Years
- 2007 to 2008
Budget leadership for a county public school system in Northern Virginia.
Atlanta Public Schools
- Role
- Deputy Chief Financial Officer
- Years
- 2008 to 2009
Deputy CFO of the city's public school system, the last role before Austin ISD.
Austin ISD
- Role
- Chief Financial Officer, later Chief of Business & Operations
- Years
- 2009 to 2020
A $3 billion budget and capital program, more than 1,600 staff, a district of some 80,000 students. Moody’s Aaa during my tenure.
The 2017 bond, reported at $1.1 billion, passed on 72% approval without raising the tax rate. The Austin American-Statesman called it the largest in Central Texas history.
TexStar Investment Pool
- Role
- Advisory board
- Years
- 2013 to 2020
Advisory board of a local government investment pool for Texas public entities, held through my final seven years at Austin ISD.
Texas House Public Education Committee
- Role
- Witness
- Years
- 2016, 2017 and 2019
Testified before the committee in each of the three years, as the chief financial officer of the state capital's school district.
Texas Commission on Public School Finance
- Role
- Member, appointed by House Speaker Joe Straus
- Years
- 2018
The commission’s recommendations led to House Bill 3 and its $11.6 billion school finance package.
Municipal Advisory Council of Texas
- Role
- Board
- Years
- 2025
Board seat at the industry council that serves the Texas municipal bond market. Not a government body: it is the market's own council, and I joined it from the market side while leading the Austin office.
Travis Central Appraisal District
- Role
- Board, a government body
- Years
- Current, term ends 2027
The appraisal district sets the taxable values that every Travis County taxing unit, including Austin ISD, budgets against. A public-sector seat held from the market side of the rule.
The crossing, November 2020
- October 31, 2020
- SIE passed
- November 13, 2020
- Registered with Siebert Williams Shank & Co.
- By July 6, 2021
- Series 52, 53, 63 and 7 complete
Five FINRA examinations in 248 days, from 31 October 2020 to 6 July 2021, on the public regulatory record. No disclosures. I left a district CFO job and opened the firm's Austin office in the same window.
Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC
- Role
- Managing Director, Austin office
- Since
- November 13, 2020
Hired to open and lead the firm’s Austin office. I originate: I bring Texas school districts, cities, counties and utility issuers to the table and to a decision.
A minority- and women-owned investment bank, International Financing Review's inaugural US Diversity and Inclusion House of the Year, 2021.
LINQ Technologies
- Role
- Board
- Years
- 2022
A K-12 education software company. The board seat sits on the vendor side of the same school district market I ran the budget in for eleven years.
Both sides of the table
I was Austin ISD's chief financial officer for eleven years before I underwrote a bond.
I wrote the budget, ran the procurement and carried the result to a board for a public vote, for twenty-one years, before I ever originated a transaction. When a finance office describes a problem to me, I have had it.
As the buyer
Chief Financial Officer of Austin ISD from 2009 to 2020, later Chief of Business and Operations: a $3 billion budget and capital program, more than 1,600 staff, a district of some 80,000 students. Before Austin, budget and procurement leadership at Fairfax County Public Schools, DC Public Schools, Atlanta Public Schools and the New York City Department of Education.
As the originator
I get the school district or the municipal issuer to the table and to a decision: 156 transactions for 61 Texas issuers between 2020-11-13 and 2026-09-15, out of the Austin office I opened for the firm and lead. 60 of them we ran as lead or co-lead manager. These come from the same source as the figures above, my firm’s extract of the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas record, with the originator attribution my firm’s rather than the Council’s. The full record separates the roles.
Recognition
Six honors between 2011 and 2023.
2023
Recognition: Trail Blazing Women in Public Finance
Awarded by: The Bond Buyer
2022
Recognition: Legacy Award, Best CFO Awards
Awarded by: Austin Business Journal
2019
Recognition: Bill Wise CFO Award for Innovation and Excellence
Awarded by: Council of the Great City Schools
2019
Recognition: Champion for Education
Awarded by: Texas Association of School Business Officials
2019
Recognition: Ambassador of the Year
Awarded by: Friends of Texas Public Schools
2011
Recognition: Nonprofit CFO of the Year
Awarded by: Austin Business Journal
| Year | Recognition | Awarded by |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Trail Blazing Women in Public Finance | The Bond Buyer |
| 2022 | Legacy Award, Best CFO Awards | Austin Business Journal |
| 2019 | Bill Wise CFO Award for Innovation and Excellence | Council of the Great City Schools |
| 2019 | Champion for Education | Texas Association of School Business Officials |
| 2019 | Ambassador of the Year | Friends of Texas Public Schools |
| 2011 | Nonprofit CFO of the Year | Austin Business Journal |
By the time a bond prices, its cost was set years earlier, in the capacity work and the board room.
Austin, Texas. Underwriting and originating for school districts, cities, counties and utility issuers across the state.