Gary Washington

Gary S. Washington is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In this role, Mr. Washington works with stakeholders across USDA’s 17 component agencies and throughout Federal government to formulate Information Technology (IT) strategies and to develop policies that support IT budget formulation and execution, portfolio management, governance, IT operations and information security.

Mr. Washington continues to lead the information technology (IT) Modernization changes at USDA to transform USDA into a facts-based, data-driven, and customer-focused organization. In partnership with the Whitehouse Office of American Innovation and the General Services Administration Mr. Washington oversaw the co-creation of five (5) IT Modernization Centers of Excellence (CoEs); IT Infrastructure Optimization, Cloud Adoption, Customer Experience, Service Delivery Analytics and the Contact Center. Over a two-year period, the CoEs in collaboration with USDA IT Professionals transformed IT and the way USDA does business today.

Prior to his appointment as CIO, Mr. Washington served as the CIO for the USDA’s, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as well as the CIO and Director of the Information Technology Division for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Prior to his appointment as the USDA, APHIS and NRCS CIO, Mr. Washington was a portfolio manager in the Electronic Government Office in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he was responsible for managing the Internal Effectiveness and Efficiency portfolio.

Mr. Washington has also worked at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he was the Director of IT Governance and the Deputy Director of Infrastructure, and at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) where he was the service manager for one of the first nationwide seat management programs.

Mr. Washington joined government after working for five (5) years in private industry as well as serving his country for 10 years in the U.S. Air Force as a Computer Operator and Command Control Specialist. He is an elected member of the Association for Federal Information Resource Managers and a 2006 graduate of the Industry Advisory Council Partners Program. Mr. Washington is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) and holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from Strayer University in Washington D.C.