Get your pencils and scorecards ready for this year’s starting line-up
Governor-elect Mike Braun names the largest complement of state agency directors to date headed into Christmas, an intriguing mix of holdovers, former leaders and staffers, current and former lawmakers and one-time local officials, and some new faces.
In addition to the new agency chiefs, five cabinet secretaries will also hold agency leadership roles: Katie Jenner will serve both as secretary of education and head of the Indiana Department of Education; David Adams, the secretary of commerce, will also serve at the helm of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation; Lisa Hershman, who was tapped as secretary of management and budget will also be director of the Office of Management and Budget; Mike Speedy, the secretary of business affairs, will also be responsible for leading the Department of Labor; and Jennifer-Ruth Green, the secretary of public safety, will also be director of homeland security.
Individuals who will be leading key departments in the new administration include (in the order listed on the transition team release):
Steve Russo, executive director of the Indiana Public Retirement System. The highly regarded Russo has been with the state retirement system in top posts under what will now be four governors. He was appointed as the executive director for what was then the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF) and Teachers’ Retirement Fund (TRF) in May 2010. Before leading the unification of the two state retirement entities into a single unit, Russo had been TRF’s executive director since 2008. The Purdue University alumnus has held leadership roles with the Naval Avionics Center and the consumer technology company Thomson. INPRS performance under Russo’s leadership has been strong, and he has not pushed back against attempts by the INPRS board to shut down ESG investments.
Holly Lambert, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance. Lambert was appointed as IDOI commissioner by Governor Eric Holcomb (R) in October 2024, and strong bipartisan sentiment was expressed to the Braun transition team about retaining the 13-year agency veteran. A Purdue University and Cooley Law School alum, she served as a market conduct attorney in the IDOI Enforcement Division and proceeded to serve as deputy general counsel, chief deputy commissioner of the Consumer Protection Unit, IDOI general counsel, and ultimately as chief of staff for the department. Lambert has long been active representing the state with, and participating in functions for, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Lindsay Hyer, executive director of the Professional Licensing Agency. Hyer Has served in the post since the end of 2022, overseeing some sensitive high-profile investigations involving key state officials. Before joining IPLA, she spent 15 months as chief of staff in the Office of the Secretary of State (Sullivan Administration), after almost four years as counsel and director of communications for the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Hyer also held comms positions with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the House Republican Caucus, and was a field manager in the post-redistricting election of 2012 for the House Republican Campaign Committee, the election that built upon the 2010 effective GOP sweep of the Ohio River House districts.
Thomas Fite, director of the Department of Financial Institutions. Fite remains in the role he has held for eight years supervising, chartering, and licensing financial service providers doing business in Indiana. Fite is closing in on 25 years with the department, and held several positions in DFI prior to being appointed director in 2016. The Ball State University alum earned an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University, and he also represents state regulatory interests as a member of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council member. He also was recently tapped to chair the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Closer to home, Fite also chairs the Midwest Interagency Advisory Group, and chairs the Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity Finance Committee.
James Michaels, superintendent of the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI). Michaels was selected as the school’s new superintendent by Governor Holcomb in July – succeeding someone who had served in that role for 30 years. He graduated from ISBVI and previously worked there and also served as a board member. Before taking over as superintendent at mid-year, Michaels spent 26 years at Bosma Enterprises, most recently as its vice president of programs. During his brief tenure at ISBVI, Michaels has sought to be a role model for students; been a strong advocate for assistive technology; worked to improve ISBVI’s Extended Core Curriculum; and has sought to boost the school’s graduation rate while working toward campus merger with the Indiana School for the Deaf.
Dr. David Geeslin, superintendent of the Indiana School for the Deaf. We’re not sure how the Braun Administration intends to approach this post, given that Dr. Geeslin had announced in September that he planned to retire from the Indiana School for the Deaf following the current academic school year, effective June 30, 2025, after serving ISD for 33 years in multiple leadership positions, including as superintendent since 2006. An alumnus of the school, Geeslin has been an employee of ISD since 1991, having served in a variety of roles, including classroom teacher and elementary principal, and racking up a number of key accomplishments, including leading ISD to become the first school to provide American Sign Language and English instruction equally from kindergarten through 12th grade. Dr. Geeslin is on board at least through mid-year, but we’re not sure if he’ll stay on longer.
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health. She joined what was then the Indiana State Department of Health as chief medical officer in February 2020 – one month before the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic – and became state health commissioner in June 2023. This was an easy pick for the new administration from the public health standpoint, but a bit more difficult from a political perspective. Dr. Weaver was closely identified with the Holcomb Administration economic shutdown, social distancing, and masking policies that angered the Republican base, and also led IDOH pushback on pregnancy termination reports that resulted in clashes with the Office of the Attorney General and pro-life organizations, but she also has been the leader in the roll out of the Health First Indiana initiative, the initially controversial county-level public health funding program for which she achieved 92-county buy-in via personal visits with key county officials in an aggressive travel regimen, and she is working toward institutionalizing county-by-county accountability metrics to help preserve program funding going forward. Dr. Weaver also remains an adjunct assistant professor of emergency medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and an emergency medicine physician with IU Health.
Steve Cox, director of the Indiana Broadband Office. Chief Broadband Officer Cox will be another holdover, having been selected for his current role in 2023 and seeing the state through the initial key rounds of broadband funding and distribution. In his previous posting, he was appointed by Governor Holcomb to serve as the executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. He served in DHS from early 2020 through June 2022. Prior to that, he was appointed as state fire marshal in 2019 after serving 27 years as a firefighter/paramedic with the South Bend Fire Department. There, he served as Fire Chief for the final eight years of his career. Cox is a veteran of the U.S. Army and earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.
Dan Huge, chair of the Indiana Finance Authority. The decision to retain Huge as the state’s public finance director resulted in some bipartisan sighs of relief. His positive national impact on state-related debt issuance and ability to bring state and local officials and the private sector together on efficient and effective financing solutions to facilitate state and local government and business investment in Indiana cannot be underestimated. Prior to joining IFA, Huge was the chief financial officer for the Capital Improvement Board of Marion County, and, prior to that, served as executive director for the Indiana Bond Bank, issuer of long- and short-term debt obligations for local units of government, schools, and libraries in Indiana. As the state’s water resource study and potential solutions to water distribution issues moves forward, Huge will be at the tip of the spear. Huge is a former interim state treasurer in Indiana, appointed by then-Gov. Mike Pence (R) in August 2014 to serve out the remainder of the unexpired term of former treasurer Richard Mourdock (R).
Don Lamb, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. We told you in late December that Lamb, appointed by Governor Holcomb on March 1, 2023, would be staying on as a direct report to Lieutenant Governor-elect Micah Beckwith (R). Lamb is a second-generation farmer for Lamb Farms (corn, popcorn, seed soybeans, and seed wheat) in Boone County. The Lamb family also owns two other enterprises, AgRecycle, a composting business, and Lamb Farms Agronomy, which provides neighboring farmers with agronomy products and services. Lamb is a board member for AgriNovus and is a member of the State Fair Commission. He previously served as vice president of the Boone County Council and a member of the Western Boone Schools School Board. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics.
Lloyd Arnold, commissioner of the Department of Correction. Arnold, of Leavenworth, served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017, where his district included all or parts of Crawford County, Dubois County, Orange County, Perry County, and Spencer County. He resigned his position in October 2017 to become director of law enforcement for the Department of Natural Resources. He became chief operations officer for Indiana Correctional Industries in August 2018. As a lawmaker, he served on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Public Safety. The Oakland City University alum is a veteran of the U.S. Army and the Indiana National Guard and has more than 10 years of experience in the manufacturing industry and as a small business (Servpro) owner.
Alan Morrison, director of the Department of Natural Resources. As we hinted in our most recent issue, we expected a lawmaker to be tapped for this post, and Morrison, the assistant House majority floor leader, most recently chaired the House Committee on Environmental Affairs while also serving on the Committee on Natural Resources. He has represented House districts with DNR parks, lakes, and reservoirs. Morrison’s academic background includes degrees in sports management, he authored the initial daily fantasy sports and sports wagering legislation, and he worked in the sports industry at the turn of the century, leading to speculation that he was interested in a post with the Indiana Gaming Commission. One of the first two House members to publicly back the 2016 Trump presidential effort, Morrison has been a sales consultant for General Alarm for the past eight years after parting ways with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where he worked in fundraising and as assistant director for recreational facilities for 15 years.
Kevin Garvey, commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The Greenwood resident has held the post of BMV chief of staff since August 2022, where he has been responsible for the oversight of both customer-facing and central office operations including all branches across the state, and the core functional areas including titles, registrations, credentials, and driver records. Garvey began his career with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in December 2008 as director of supply chain management, and has held various operational positions, each with increased oversight and responsibility (including chief operating officer), prior to being named chief of staff. Recent commissioners have largely come from outside the BMV family, although outgoing commissioner Joe Hoage had served as general counsel before leaving to head a different agency prior to his appointment to the top job.
Before joining the BMV team, Garvey – a native Hoosier who grew up on the west side of Indianapolis – worked as an operations and inventory manager for a music and video game distribution company. His various roles and experiences with the company took him from Indianapolis to Detroit, then to Richmond, Virginia and Manchester, England. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Garvey is active in the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) having chaired the organization’s Vehicle Standing Committee. Garvey worked on the BMV senior management team with the incoming commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation, Kent Abernathy.
Mitch Roob, secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration. Roob reprises his Daniels Administration role, in which he controversially brought aboard IBM and ACS (a former employer of his) to handle state welfare intake responsibilities that eventually embroiled the State in high-stakes, highly expensive, multi-decade lawsuit. Roob oversaw the implementation of the first agency-wide accounting system for FSSA during his tenure that began 20 years ago. Roob was also the principal architect of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP).
The DePauw alum earned a Notre Dame MBA and came to prominence for his work in the Goldsmith mayoral administration managing the process for competition to provide government services, often pitting existing city departments against private enterprises. Roob also served as the Indiana secretary of commerce and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation during the Daniels Administration.
Prior to his work with the state, he served as president of the Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation, where he was responsible for the county health department and what was then Wishard Public Hospital. Roob has held leadership positions with the Indianapolis Department of Transportation and the former Indianapolis Water Company. Most recently, he led WoundVision™, an advanced wound detection technology and medical risk analysis firm, as president and CEO, and was a senior policy advisor with Bose Public Affairs Group.
In case you’re wondering why Roob was not named secretary of health and family services (that’s Dr. Gloria Sachdev’s role), rest assured that in practice he’ll not end up accountable to her; he’ll be a direct report to the governor. Roob was named to the FSSA role with one principal mission: Rein in Medicaid spending. He’ll likely be spending as much time on that task as will whomever he and the new governor select to run the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (perhaps one physician familiar with the Third Floor and the political world who was in the running for the FSSA job had Roob demurred may be that pick) . . . and he won’t be worried about making new friends or keeping people or constituencies happy – another big reason why he was brought aboard.
Jake Adams, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Carroll County native Jake Adams will replace Dennis Wimer at the helm of IDVA. Adams is an Indiana University akum with more than nine years of active-duty service as a Marine. Following his time in the Marines, he moved back to Indiana and founded a marketing company in 2014. Since then, he has served as the director of business services for the Region 4 Workforce Board, as well as a workforce development consultant for Ivy Tech Community College. The former Marine recruiter lives in Flora, where he has been executive director/CEO of the Carroll County Economic Development Corporation for four years.
Fred Glynn, executive director of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Glynn was a two-term member of the Hamilton County Council, where he was a lynchpin of a fiscal conservative movement to cut spending by Republicans whose spending habits matched their big thoughts and plans and spenders in the wealthy county. He said he ran for council “to bring leadership and accountability for our citizens’ tax dollars, which I’ve done, despite getting push back from members of my own party. I analyze every spending proposal that comes before me to see whether it represents a good use of the tax dollars my constituents work hard to bring home. I don’t make decisions based on what politicians want, I make decisions based upon the long-term interests of our community.” After his appointment to lead OCRA, Glynn posted on Facebook, “I appreciate the confidence Lt Governor Micah Beckwith and Governor Braun have placed in me for this pivotal role. I look forward to driving efficiency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility through the agency.”
Glynn made an unsuccessful bid for the new open HD 32 seat in 2022, defeating new cabinet secretary Suzie Jaworowski (R) after a lengthy recount, which diminished his opportunity to campaign in the general election, which he lost to now-Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn (D).
Glynn then ran in the 2023 Republican primary for the open Carmel mayor’s office, finishing a close third in a race separated by only four percentage points among the top three candidates. During that race, Glynn offered some comments that could prove instructive to how he might choose to lead OCRA, telling the Current in Carmel: “I would do things differently as far as putting people first, (and not have) such a heavy government hand in development. We (should be) more of a referee as opposed to controlling every aspect of development,” Glynn said. “We need to not use up all the land so that we don’t have any green space left. I think that needs to be considered.”
Through the course of his four campaigns, he was known as a tireless door-to-door campaigner. Glynn earned his bachelor’s degree in Aviation Business from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and works as a mortgage banker.
Watch for some skepticism of a Carmel official leading rural development efforts in a role typically reserved for retiring (or retired) politicians, typically former mayors or lawmakers, and usually from smaller communities(unlike former Terre Haute mayor Duke Bennett (R), who is leaving the post). While OCRA is an office under the purview of the lieutenant governor, recall that restoring the economic vitality and vibe of our state’s smaller and more rural communities was a key campaign issue for Gov.-elect Braun.
Brandon Clifton, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Administration. A transition director for a previous governor told us that at the National Governors Association post-election orientation for new governors and top staff, the incoming governors were asked to think of a close friend or associate in the business world outside of politics who could speak truth to power and did not want a government job. That individual, the newbies were told, should be considered for running their states’ equivalent of a department of administration. Brandon Clifton would not immediately come to mind for this role, having not had any significant association with the governor-elect, but he does bring considerable experience in IDOA and in important related areas.
Clifton earned his undergrad degree from Wabash College (Braun’s alma mater), a law degree from the Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law in Florida; an MBA from Webster University in Missouri, and an MS in Cybersecurity Risk Management from Indiana University Bloomington. He began his state career in 2011 with the Indiana Department of Education as a staff attorney, policy advisor, and ethics officer to then-state superintendent of public instruction Tony Bennett (R), before moving to the Indiana Department of Administration for almost two years as deputy general counsel. In that role, he served as counsel for procurement, contract, and transactional matters, counsel for the Minority and Women’s Business Division, the director of executive branch lobbying, as well as ethics officer for IDOA. From there he spent seven years in the Office of the Secretary of State, from 2014 – 2021, working for two different secretaries as chief of staff and deputy secretary of state. He then left for the private sector, joining voting equipment supplier Election Systems & Software (ES&S) as senior vice president of government affairs. After an 18-month stint there he opened his own shop, offering services to minority, women, and veteran business owners seeking certification, as well as providing procurement, contract, strategic business development, cybersecurity consultation, and government affairs and general counsel to small businesses. In August, he became director of economic development for the City of Greenwood.
From his work at IDOA and on his own, Clifton is intimately familiar with state MBE, WBE, DBE, and veteran-owned business requirements and practice, which could prove pivotal in terms of both advice and operations depending upon the new administration’s penchant for program change.
Pete Miller, executive director of the Indiana Management Performance Hub. Miller served in the Senate from a Hendricks County-focused district after winning a seven-ballot caucus election in April 2012 (when he was serving as CD 04 Republican Party chair following a stint as Hendricks County GOP chair), but was defeated by a more conservative opponent in the 2016 primary. The Purdue alum and Avon resident worked for Crowe Horwath and the Wabash Valley Power Association before joining the Daniels Administration in 2005 as director of the Government Efficiency and Financial Planning Division for the Indiana Office of Management and Budget, providing him with directly relevant experience for running MPH. He left his OMB post when he joined the Senate, and moved over to Indiana University Health where he has served as director of business Intelligence and revenue cycle services. From 2019 – 2021, Miller also was an appointed member of the State Board of Education.
Kent Abernathy, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation. Abernathy of Zionsville comes to the post with a strong background of state agency administrative experience and a reputation for being able to boost the level of agency performance, as readers of our Hannah News Service sister newsletter INDIANA TRANSPORTATION INSIGHT learned last week. The 67-year-old is a Jay County native who grew up in Redkey, and lived in Carmel during his early years in state government. A West Point alum with master’s degrees from the U.S. Army War College (Strategic Studies) and Oakland City University (Management), Abernathy brings six years of Wall Street banking experience (and another nine years of Indianapolis-local bank work) to the job. He also has high-level military practice under his belt, with the Washington Liaison Office for U.S. Central Command, and as team chief for the Army Operations Center.
For five years during the Daniels Administration, he served as chief of staff for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, where you may remember him as the de facto chief operating officer and essentially commissioner as well. He then spent 2015 – 2017 as commissioner of the 1,400-employee Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a post in which he worked closely with INDOT. Abernathy was asked by the then-governor to take the BMV top job after the agency found itself embroiled in a high-profile legal battle focused on the agency overcharging some 5 million customers more than $60 million. During the Trump Administration, Abernathy was executive director of the congressionally created National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service, and has since been director and president of the Indiana War Memorials Foundation.
In 2022, he made an unsuccessful run for the then-open HD 25 seat in the Republican primary. He finished second in a four-way race with 27.1% to now-Rep. Becky Cash (R) of Zionsville and her 39.4%, topping former Rep. Matt Whetstone (R) of Brownsburg and his 26.0% share. Abernathy earlier ran in the 2020 CD 05 open seat primary, finishing fifth with 5.6% in a field of more than one-dozen candidates, won by now-U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R). In his 2022 legislative primary race, Abernathy posited the importance of transportation in Indiana’s economy, contending that state lawmakers needed to “Continue to improve infrastructure to maintain Indiana’s status as the ‘Crossroads of America,’ and ensure our local communities receive their fair share of state-allocated funding.” He also emphasized government efficiency, a favorite theme of Governor-elect Braun (R). He believed then that the legislature must:
– Make the tough choices to prioritize how State government spends Hoosiers’ hard-earned money to pass only honestly balanced budgets without raising taxes, while maintaining our state’s rainy -day reserves
– Cut bureaucratic red-tape, and eliminate duplicative, outdated, and unnecessary programs and regulations
– Appropriately allocate monies the State receives from the federal government and do so in a timely manner
– Use innovative ideas and available technology to improve efficiency throughout all existing state government agencies to enhance the customer experience
Adam Krupp, director of the Department of Child Services. As the father of three small children and someone who says he navigated some difficult and emotional cases involving child welfare in his career, he labels this appointment as very personal for him. Krupp returns to state government where he had served as commissioner of the Indiana Department of Revenue from 2017 – 2020 during the early Holcomb Administration. At IDOR, Krupp placed a renewed emphasis on customer service, compliance, ethics, and internal affairs and oversaw the successful implementation of a new $100 million integrated tax system. Krupp had earlier spent stints as general counsel to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and as special counsel to then-Gov. Pence. He previously was an attorney with Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, and was deputy director and in-house counsel to the Indiana Division of Family Resources. After leaving state government, he made a brief convention bid for attorney general in 2020, and worked for BGBC CPAs and Advisors as chief operating officer and general counsel. Before that, he was a senior director of public sector services with Resultant, where he oversaw public sector consulting operations focused on Indiana government agencies. Krupp holds a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a J.D. from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law.