FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tim Becker
Timothy.Becker@portlandoregon.gov
Mayor Ted Wheeler Appoints New City Budget Director
Mayor Ted Wheeler has appointed Jessica Kinard to be the next director of Portland’s Budget Office. Kinard has served as Interim City Budget Director since October 2018, and replaces Andrew Scott who left the city in June 2018. She will lead a 16-person team focused on managing the budget process, supporting Council budget decision-making and providing unfiltered information and analysis to elected officials, bureaus and the public.
“During her time as Interim Budget Director, Jessica has proven her ability as a strong and effective leader,” said Mayor Ted Wheeler. “We are confident she will provide the robust oversight and guidance needed to ensure sound fiscal management and decision-making by the city.”
Kinard joined the City Budget Office as a Principal Financial Analyst in 2015. She came to Portland from the Mayor’s Office of Public Policy and Finance in San Francisco where she served under the late Mayor Ed Lee, helping to balance the City and County’s then $8+ billion budget. She helped develop and advise on budget and policy issues across a range of topics, with a focus on human services, aging and adult services and children’s programming and policies.
“During this time of immense growth and change that we are experiencing as Portlanders, it is imperative that we ensure our budgeting and financial practices are responsible, effective, equitable and transparent,” said Kinard. “I am honored for this opportunity, and I look forward to supporting budget decision-making and leading budget processes that are effective and efficient in order to meet the many current and future mandates of our communities.”
Before beginning her career in city government, Kinard worked in the non-profit sector. She managed the launch and growth of Experience Corps Oakland, an intergenerational tutoring and mentoring program that placed and supported older adult volunteers in several Oakland, California elementary schools. Her passion for finding and implementing lasting solutions to poverty led her to study social and urban policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and transition to a career in public service. She believes in the importance and promise of local government to provide services that are effective, efficient, and which support equitable outcomes for all communities.
Kinard—who was hired following a nationwide search to fill the position—holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. She lives in Southeast Portland with her husband and two children.
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