Jay Mahanand – 2020
CIO, USAID
Jay Mahanand is one of the longest-serving CIOs in the federal government, now at nine years as USAID’s head of IT. During that time, he’s made USAID a model of IT success, receiving an A grade from Congress on the agency’s biannual FITARA Scorecard. During his time at the agency, he’s learned there are three important elements to leadership: passion, people and performance. “On the passion side, you have to enjoy what you’re doing. You have to understand why you’re doing it,” he said. “On the people side, you really have to listen to your staff, you have to be objective. … And you really need to be clear about your expectations for projects for outcomes and driving accountability to deliver excellence and performance.”
