Ms. Lara C. Sayer
Executive Director, Commission on Planning, Programing, Budget and Execution Reform
Ms. Lara C. Sayer
Executive Director
Commission on Planning, Programing, Budget and Execution Reform
Ms. Lara Sayer is currently serving as the Executive Director for the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) Reform. The Commission on PPBE Reform was established as a legislative advisory commission by the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (Section 1004). As the Executive Director she is responsible for leading the Commission’s research and analysis, and for developing recommendations for improving the Department of Defense’s resourcing process in order to speed the delivery of capability to the warfighter.
Prior to this position, Ms. Sayer was a member of the Senior Executive Service and served as the Comptroller for Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC). Ms. Sayer was responsible and accountable for financial operations for all financial management activities supporting Navy shore installation support for Fleet, Fighter and Family under the cognizance of CNIC and life-cycle technical acquisition solutions aligned to Fleet and Marine Corps priorities of NAVFAC, enabling overwhelming Fleet and Marine Corps lethality. As the Comptroller for these commands, she had oversight of annual appropriations in excess of $12B.
Prior to this position, Ms. Sayer served as the Comptroller for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). At ONR she was directly responsible for building and leading a team of professionals in the management and oversight of $3.3B that enabled the research, development, test and evaluation and related activities that propelled future capabilities for the Department of the Navy.
Ms. Sayer was appointed to the Senior Executive Service on January 27, 2017, as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for United States Special Operations Command. As the Deputy Chief Financial Officer she was responsible for special operations budget and execution activities totaling more than $13 billion annually. She provided fiscal direction and guidance to the four USSOCOM component commands, a sub-unified command and 7 theater special operations commands.
Ms. Sayer holds a bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance and a Master of Business Administration from Wright State University. She also has a Masters in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School at National Defense University. Ms. Sayer has received numerous awards during her career. She has a Level 3 DoD FM Certification, is DAWIA Level 3 certified in Financial Management and Level 1 in Program Management and is a Certified Defense Financial Manager with Acquisition Specialty.