Larry Bafundo, who took charge of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) last year, said today he is stepping away from his role at GSA.
Bafundo was appointed as the permanent TMF director in July 2024, after coming in as the interim chief in January of last year. He took over from Jessie Posilkin, who was serving as acting director in late 2023 after Raylene Yung stepped down as permanent director in October 2023.
TMF was originally conceived by Congress in 2017 under the Modernizing Government Technology Act as a way to provide money to Federal civilian agencies to undertake tech modernization projects, but also as a largely self-sustaining fund that would be replenished with money paid back to TMF by agencies from cost savings generated by the modernization projects that TMF helped to underwrite.
The fund received a $1 billion infusion from Congress in 2021, along with several hundred million in regular appropriations since its creation.
When Bafundo came in to direct the fund, TMF was close to having exhausted the $1 billion funding bump from Congress but was still making regular investments.
In a year-end 2024 report issued in December, TMF reported that since the 2021 infusion from Congress, the fund had allocated more than $1 billion of investments across 63 projects at 34 agencies. That total includes $240 million of investments made in Fiscal Year 2024, totaling 16 new investments and including seven new agencies participating.
For FY 2025 that began on Sept. 30, 2024, the fund made $70 million of investments in agency projects. GSA has not announced any new TMF fundings since President Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20.
In revealing his departure from TMF in a social media post today, Bafundo talked about the enduring need for TMF, the importance of understanding complex technology modernization problems, and recent pressures on the Federal workforce.
“TMF investments modernize government systems, strengthen security, and deliver better services to the public,” he said. “These efforts go beyond technology improvements – they are projected to save taxpayers over $1.2 billion by making government more efficient and cost-effective. Continued investment in TMF will be critical to sustaining this impact.”
“But modernizing government is about more than just technology – it requires changing complex systems,” Bafundo explained.
“Many of the toughest challenges don’t fit into a two- or four-year political cycle,” he said. “And while technology can be a powerful lever, real change often depends on better policy. This is because too often, government programs aren’t designed to deliver value; they are designed to deliver on political compromise. Addressing these root-cause issues requires sustained investment and long-term commitment.”
Finally, Bafundo said “it has been disheartening to see public servants disparaged in the media recently.” He continued: “Are there opportunities to improve? Yes. But for the most part, public servants are smart, tenacious, and dedicated people who work every day to make the country better. They’re also your neighbors, family members, and friends.”
