Hires bring California treasurer’s executive team back to full strength

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma has hired two more deputy state treasurers to fill out her senior leadership team.

Stephanie Tom and Khaim Morton were named deputy state treasurers, joining Patrick Henning, chief deputy state treasurer and Juan Fernandez, deputy treasurer for public finance.

Ma was reelected in November. Several executives decided not to continue for her second term as treasurer. They include Tim Schaefer, deputy treasurer for public finance, who retired in October. He died in January.

As deputy treasurer, Morton will have responsibility for public policy formation and will oversee the California School Finance Authority, California Educational Facilities Authority, California Pollution Control Financing Authority, and the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority.

Tom will oversee savings and investment programs in the treasurer’s office, including ScholarShare 529 college savings plan, California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program, CalSavers retirement savings program, California Achieving a Better Life Experience savings programs for people with disabilities, and the California Hope Opportunity Perservence and Empowerment savings program for children who lost a parent to COVID-19 and long-term foster youth.

“Stephanie and Khaim are seasoned professionals that each bring a unique set of experiences to the treasurer’s office. I’m excited to have them on board and eager for them to contribute to the important work we do,” Ma said in a statement Monday.

Chief deputy Genevieve Jopanda and Audrey Noda, deputy treasurer for health and education, also left the treasurer’s office in the months before Ma’s re-election.

“I will be starting with a new leadership team for the next four years,” Ma told The Bond Buyer in a pre-election interview.

Henning and Fernandez were announced shortly before Ma’s reelection.

Tom comes over from the California State Assembly where she was chief consultant for the AAPI Legislative Caucus. While there, she was responsible for supporting the caucus’s policy agenda, including annual legislative and budget priorities.

Prior to that position, she was deputy director for strategic planning, broadband and digital literacy at the California Department of Technology and spent nearly 20 years at Oracle Corporation, finishing her time there as director for Global Customer Programs.

Morton joins the treasurer’s office from Portola Valley Partners, where he served as managing partner for NextGen Grant Funding helping emerging technology companies capture market share through strategic relationships with governments.

He is also the principal and founder of KRM Strategies, a public policy, advocacy, and strategic planning firm where he represents clients at the state and local government levels. He previously held positions as vice president for Public Policy and Economic Development at the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, Deputy Secretary for Legislation at the California Government Operations Agency, and held multiple positions in the California Legislature.

Both new deputy treasurers will also represent the treasurer at meetings and events, and work on special projects and initiatives as needed.

Both Tom and Morton started at the treasurer’s office on July 6.