CFPB Announces Additions to Executive Team

Washington, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today announced additions to its executive team. The leadership positions are:

Susan M. Bernard will serve as Assistant Director for Regulations in the Research, Markets and Regulation Division. Before joining the Bureau, she served as the Director of the Office of Regulations and Policy in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Bernard earned her doctorate and master’s degrees in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.

Donna Roy will serve as Chief Information Officer in the Bureau’s Operations Division. Ms. Roy has more than 18 years of Federal service. Before joining the Bureau, she served as Executive Director, Information Sharing and Services Office at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where she was focused on innovative solutions for identity management, national scale collaboration and trust platforms, and scalable data infrastructure solutions to customers within a dynamic environment. Ms. Roy is a United States Marine Corps veteran. She is a graduate of Wades College in Dallas, Texas.

Rachelle Vaughan will serve as Chief Procurement Officer in the Bureau’s Operations Division. Ms. Vaughan has more than 11 years of Federal service. Before joining the Bureau, she served as Director of Procurement Services for the Corporation for National and Community Service where she was the executive procurement officer and oversaw the agency’s entire acquisition portfolio. Ms. Vaughan earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia, her master’s degree from Argosy University in Arlington, Virginia, and her doctor of education from Argosy University in Phoenix, Arizona. She has also earned an associate’s certificate in contract management and a master’s certificate in government contracting both from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Thomas G. Ward will serve as Assistant Director of Enforcement in the Supervision, Enforcement & Fair Lending Division. Before joining the Bureau, he served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Ward was a litigation partner at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, where his practice focused on financial and securities litigation and investigations, and a corporate associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York City. Mr. Ward clerked for the Honorable Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and earned his law degree from Columbia Law School in New York City.

David Wernecke will serve as Chief Experience Officer. Mr. Wernecke has served at the Bureau since 2013, most recently as the Section Chief in the Consumer Response Product Office. He has more than 20 years of executive experience in the financial services industry and five years in management consulting supporting Federal agencies. Mr. Wernecke earned his B.A. in political science and history from Towson University in Towson, Maryland.