Press Release - President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Chris Brummer – Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Susan Louise Castaneda – Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers
• Roberto R. Herencia – Member, Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation

President Obama also announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• J. Todd Breasseale – Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Homeland Security
• Abbey Johnston– Member, Medal of Valor Review Board
• Jennifer Sheehy – Member, Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled

President Obama said, "I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have decided to serve our country. I look forward to working with them." 

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: 

Dr. Chris Brummer, Nominee for Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Dr. Chris Brummer is a Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Institute of International Economic Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, positions he has held since 2009. Dr. Brummer has served as the C. Boyden Gray Fellow and Project Director for the Transatlantic Finance Initiative at the Atlantic Council since 2012, and as a Senior Fellow in the Center for Financial Markets at the Milken Institute since 2011. In 2015, he completed a three-year term on the National Adjudicatory Council of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Dr. Brummer served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 2015, Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2012, a Roger J. Traynor Summer Professor at the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 2011, a Visiting Professor at Heidelberg University in 2011, and a Zaeslin Visiting Professor at the University of Basel in 2010. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Brummer was an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, and he served as an Academic Fellow in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of International Affairs in 2008. Prior to becoming a faculty member at Vanderbilt, he was an Associate at Cravath, Swaine, & Moore LLP from 2004 to 2006. Dr. Brummer received an A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis, a J.D. from Columbia University Law School, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Susan Louise Castaneda, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers

Susan Louise Castaneda is the Assistant Vice President and Compliance Officer for Operations, Technology and Data for The Hartford, a position she has held since 2011. Before assuming her current role, she held numerous positions at The Hartford since 1992, including Director of Property and Casualty Operations, Compliance Director for Personal Lines, Underwriting Lead for Personal Lines, Underwriting Manager, Consumer Affairs Supervisor, Consumer Affairs Representative, and Customer Service Representative. Prior to joining The Hartford, she worked as an Office Manager and Licensed Agent for Farmers Insurance from 1990 to 1992 and a Customer Service Representative and Licensed Agent for Allstate Insurance from 1988 to 1990. Ms. Castaneda received a B.A. from San Diego State University.

Roberto R. Herencia, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation

Roberto R. Herencia is the President and CEO of BXM Holdings, Inc., a position he has held since 2010. He was first nominated and confirmed as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation by President Obama in 2011. He has served as a director and Chairman of the board of Byline Bancorp and its subsidiary bank, Byline Bank, since 2013. Since 2011, Mr. Herencia has served as a director and Chairman of the board of First BanCorp and its subsidiary bank, FirstBank Puerto Rico. He served as a director of SKBHC Holdings and its two subsidiary banks from 2010 to 2015. From 2009 and 2010, Mr. Herencia was the President and CEO of Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. and Midwest Bank and Trust. Previously, he spent 17 years with Banco Popular as Executive Vice President and as President of Banco Popular North America. Mr. Herencia received a B.S. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts: 

J. Todd Breasseale, Appointee for Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Homeland Security

J. Todd Breasseale is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, a position he has held since 2015. He has served concurrently as Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs since 2015. Lt. Col. Breasseale previously served as Strategic Planning and Coordination Advisor in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs from 2014 to 2015. From 2011 to 2014, Lt. Col. Breasseale served at the Department of Defense as the Spokesman for the offices of the General Counsel, Detainee Policy, Rule of Law, Western Hemisphere Affairs, Legislative Affairs, and U.S. Southern Command in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. He served as the Deputy Public Affairs Officer and Director of Media Relations in the Office of Commander for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. From 2008 to 2009, Lt. Col. Breasseale served as the Director of Media Relations for the U.S. Army's Fifth Corps headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany. He was Director of the U.S. Army's Entertainment Industry Liaison Office from 2002 to 2008, and deployed to lead the media relations team for Multi-National Corps – Iraq from 2005 to 2006. Lt. Col. Breasseale also held a number of tactical commands and other leadership positions as a Field Artillery officer in the U.S. Army from 1992 to 2001. Lt. Col. Breasseale received a B.A. from Lincoln Memorial University.

Abbey Johnston, Appointee for Member, Medal of Valor Review Board

Abbey Johnston has served on the Medal of Valor Review Board since 2012. She served as the President of the Lynchburg Fire Fighters Association (LFFA), Local 1146, from 2009 to 2012 and is a Captain/Paramedic with the Lynchburg Fire Department in Lynchburg, Virginia. Mrs. Johnston previously served as the Secretary of LFFA and has been a member of the organization since she became a professional firefighter in 2004. LFFA is an affiliate of the Virginia Professional Firefighters Association and the International Association of Firefighters. LFFA selected Mrs. Johnston to represent the IAFF membership as a guest of the First Lady at the 2009 State of the Union Address. Mrs. Johnston received a Bachelor of Science from Liberty University.?

Jennifer Sheehy, Appointee for Member, Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled

Jennifer Sheehy is Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the Department of Labor, a position she has held since 2012. Ms. Sheehy held numerous positions at the Department of Education focused on rehabilitation and disability issues from 2002 to 2012, including as Director of the Office of Policy and Planning in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services from 2007 to 2012. She was an Associate Director in the Office of Domestic Policy in the Executive Office of the President from 2001 to 2002, and Senior Policy Advisor for the Department of Labor's Presidential Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities from 2000 to 2002. Ms. Sheehy held various positions with the National Organization on Disability, including as Vice President and Director of the CEO Council from 1998 to 1999. She was inducted into the National Disability Mentoring Coalition Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame in 2015, the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Hall of Fame in 2008, and received numerous awards and honors including the 2004 Accenture Government Women's Leadership Award and the 2003 National Council on Disability Leadership Award. Ms. Sheehy received a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University.