President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Key Members for the Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Appalachian Regional Commission

Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Seema Nanda for Solicitor of the Department of Labor, Victoria Wassmer for Assistant Secretary at Budget and Programs and Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Transportation, Maryanne Donaghy for Assistant Secretary for Accountability and Whistleblower Protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ronald Davis for Director of the United States Marshal Service, Jocelyn Samuels for Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Gayle Conelly Manchin for Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Seema Nanda served as Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Deputy Solicitor at the U.S Department of Labor in the Obama – Biden Administration. Before that, Nanda spent over 15 years in various roles as a labor and employment attorney, mostly in government service. She led the now named Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, served as a supervisor attorney in the Division of Advice at the National Labor Relations Board, and worked as an associate in private practice in Seattle. After the Obama – Biden Administration, Nanda led the Democratic National Committee as CEO and served as COO and Executive Vice President at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Nanda is presently a fellow at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program. She grew up in Connecticut and is a graduate of Brown University and Boston College Law School.

Victoria Wassmer is currently serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget at the Department of Transportation (DOT). She joined the Department from Ernst & Young, where she served as a Managing Director in the government and public sector practice. Previously, she worked as the Director of Agency Operations for DC Government. Victoria is no stranger to DOT, having served for many years as a Senior Executive for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Other senior positions at the FAA include serving as the Acting Deputy Administrator and Chief NextGen Officer as well as the Chief Financial Officer.

In 2010-2011, Victoria served as Vice President of Administration and Finance at the Millennium Challenge Corporation in 2010-2011. Other professional highlights include six years at the Office of Management and Budget and work as a research assistant at the Development Bank of South Africa after the first democratic elections in 1994. Victoria holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Bryn Mawr College. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, two sons and mother.

Maryanne Donaghy is an attorney and Senior Advisor at the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, her alma mater. She started her career as a Certified Public Accountant, attended Temple University School of Law in the evening, and practiced law in Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Donaghy was a federal prosecutor for many years, and worked both in the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Delaware, where she focused on white collar fraud. Ms. Donaghy lectured extensively during her years as a federal prosecutor on financial fraud, money laundering and corporate wrongdoing. Since leaving the Department of Justice, Ms. Donaghy has counseled numerous organizations, including non-profits, large corporations and governmental agencies, on response to federal, state and congressional investigations, and on building effective compliance programs. Among other responsibilities, she has worked with a large University involving Title IX investigations, counseled a large pharmaceutical company under federal and state investigation involving marketing practices, and provided advice to a hospital system regarding research misconduct allegations. Working with the Inspector General of Philadelphia, Ms. Donaghy established a fully functional Inspector General’s Office for the Philadelphia School District. As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Delaware, Ms. Donaghy has taught accounting, law and criminal justice courses. She has participated in numerous pro bono and community service activities through her career, including as a founding committee member of the Veterans’ Committee for the Delaware State Bar Association. She is married and the mother of three sons, one of who currently serves in the Navy and another who is a Marine Corps veteran.

Ronald L. Davis served in the Obama Administration as the Director of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). In December 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Director Davis to serve as the Executive Director of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Prior to serving as COPS Director, Davis had a distinguished career in law enforcement serving over 8 years as Chief of Police of East Palo Alto (CA) and 20 years with the Oakland (CA) Police Department. Davis was recognized for his innovative community efforts and for working collaboratively with the community to dramatically reduce crime and violence in a city once named as the murder capital of the United States. Davis served as a member of the prestigious Harvard University and National Institute of Justice Executive Sessions on Policing and Public Safety and is currently a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine “Reducing Racial Inequalities in the Criminal Justice System” committee. Davis possesses a Bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and has completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

Jocelyn Samuels was Executive Director at the Williams Institute, focusing on legal strategies to attain equality for sexual and gender minorities before joining the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From July 2014 until January 2017, Samuels was the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, where she oversaw civil rights enforcement with respect to hospitals, healthcare providers, insurers, and human services agencies and spearheaded development of regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Prior to her work at OCR, Samuels served as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, and held other positions as a political appointee within the department. There, she oversaw work across a range of civil rights issues and supervised litigation combating discrimination in employment and education. Earlier in her career, Samuels served as the Vice President for Education & Employment at the National Women’s Law Center, was Labor Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and spent ten years as a senior policy attorney at the EEOC. Samuels graduated magna cum laude, with Phi Beta Kappa honors, from Middlebury College and from Columbia University Law School, where she was a Note Editor for The Columbia Law Review.

An educator from West Virginia, Gayle Manchin worked in Marion County Schools, served on the faculty of Fairmont State University, and was the Director of the university’s first Community Service Learning Program. She directed the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows in WV and implemented a statewide initiative, WV Partnerships to Assure Student Success. Manchin previously served as West Virginia’s First Lady and was appointed to serve as a member of the State Board of Education, serving her last two years as President. She is the Chair of the Board for Reconnecting McDowell, Inc., an AFT initiative serving rural WV, is a past president of the Vandalia Rotary Club of Charleston, and as an Emeritus Member of The Education Alliance. She also served as Cabinet Secretary for the West Virginia Office of Education and the Arts.

Gayle Conelly Manchin attended West Virginia University, attaining her Bachelor of Arts in Language Arts and Education and a Master of Arts in Reading, and a second master’s specialization in Educational Technology Leadership from Salem International University. While at WVU, Gayle met and married Joe Manchin, III, elected as US Senator from West Virginia, to fill the unexpired term of Senator Robert C Byrd in 2010, and re-elected in 2012, and 2018 for full terms. Joe and Gayle have been married for 53 years and have three children and ten grandchildren.