Malena Brookshire

Malena is an executive with nearly two decades of driving operational excellence in challenging environments. Known for her strategic vision and leadership, Malena has built her career on cultivating and empowering diverse, cross-functional teams, leading to significant enterprise outcomes. Malena is a catalyst for organizational growth, adept at optimizing resources and implementing transformative changes that improve mission delivery. Malena is the chief financial officer at AmeriCorps leading the agency’s top priority of financial and operational reform. The multi-year reform effort is addressing years of systemic audit findings and internal controls deficiencies by standardizing and automating business processes and bolstering investments in staff training and development. Malena partnered with the agency’s CIO and Chief Modernization Officer to secure Technology Modernization Fund investment to replace the agency’s 20-year-old grant management system with a modern, agile platform. Under Malena’s leadership, AmeriCorps completed the successful transition to shared services to improve core agency financial management and Malena led the agency through its first ever multi-year resource planning effort with funding that nearly doubled the agency's budget. Prior to AmeriCorps, Malena served as the first Deputy Performance Improvement Officer at the Securities & Exchange Commission. Following that, Malena joined the Environmental Protection Agency, where she led the development of EPA's Strategic Plan, and established the agency’s Enterprise Risk Management program implementing a risk framework commended by OMB as a leading approach. Malena is a proud member of the AGA DC Chapter and served in multiple capacities including Chapter President (2019). Malena was also a charter member for AGA's DEIA Council. Malena earned her Master of Public Administration from George Washington University, and Bachelors in Economics and Mathematics from University of Wisconsin.