The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced the hiring of senior leadership for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Elizabeth Warren, assistant to the president and special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB, highlighted the selection of Catherine West to serve as chief operating officer and Gail Hillebrand to serve as associate director of consumer education and engagement.
“With these hires, the CFPB has filled two of its most senior positions with people who have a proven track record of leadership,” said Warren. “Catherine West’s experience in the private sector will inform her work heading the division that will build and sustain the CFPB’s entire organization. Gail Hillebrand’s years as a prominent consumer advocate will be valuable as she heads the division that will provide, through a variety of initiatives and methods, information to consumers that allows them to make the decisions that are best for them.”
In addition, Dennis Slagter will serve as chief human capital officer and David Gragan will serve as assistant director of procurement.
“In Dennis Slagter and David Gragan, we have also hired two individuals with a history of exceptional public service, including in the military,” Warren said. “They will continue to serve the country well by playing key roles in the operations of the CFPB.”
West will serve as associate director and chief operating officer. She will oversee several offices, including human capital; procurement; information technology; finance; operations and facilities; Freedom of Information Act, Privacy and Records; and the Consumer Response Center. West was previously the chief operating officer of J.C. Penney. Prior to that, she was a senior executive at Capital One, serving in roles that include president, president of the U.S. card business, and executive VP of enterprise operations. Previously, she worked at First USA Bank as executive VP of marketing services and operations, and SVP of U.S. consumer operations. West has also worked at Chevy Chase Federal Savings Bank as VP of the Credit Card Division. She was named one of Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and one of Washingtonian’s 100 Most Powerful Women. She is a graduate of Lynchburg College.
Hillebrand will serve as associate director of consumer education and engagement. She will oversee several offices, including Community Affairs, Consumer Engagement, Servicemember Affairs, Financial Education, Older Americans and Students. Hillebrand formerly worked as a senior attorney at Consumers Union’s West Coast Office, where she managed the credit and finance advocacy team and led the organization’s financial services campaign. She is the former founding chair and board member of the California Reinvestment Committee, a statewide coalition working to encourage financial institutions to serve low-income consumers and neighborhoods. Hillebrand has served on the Consumer Advisory Council to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and on the Council of the American Law Institute. She began her career as a law clerk to Judge Robert Boochever of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She practiced law with the San Francisco firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enersen (now Bingham McCutchen). She is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego and received her J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Dennis Slagter will serve as assistant director and Chief Human Capital Officer. He previously worked at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. foreign aid agency, where he headed administrative services and human resources as Acting Managing Director and Deputy Director. Prior to that, Slagter served as the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), where he led the Army’s personnel human capital and legislative programs. He has also served as Director of Initiatives and Transformation for the Army Human Resources Command, as a Corporate Fellow with the Office of the Secretary of the Defense, as an Army personnel officer for the Task Force 1st Armored Division in Baghdad, and as a Military Community Commander in Wiesbaden, Germany. He is a graduate of Creighton University and Webster University, and was also educated at the U.S. Army Senior Service College.
Gragan will serve as assistant director for procurement. He most recently served as the chief procurement officer for the District of Columbia, having been appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty. He has been a public procurement professional since 1993, when he became the Chief Procurement Officer for the State of Indiana. He also served as the state procurement director for Texas. He has served as a consultant to state and local governments on procurement reform while at Accenture, Oracle, and CGI. Gragan is currently the vice chair of the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council, the certifying body for state and local government procurement professionals. He has received the distinguished service awards of both the National Association of State Procurement Officials and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. He is a Certified Public Procurement Officer. Prior to his public procurement career, he was an intelligence officer in the United States Marine Corps. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and the University of Southern California.
