Nominated by Gov. Edward G. Rendell, Allen D. Biehler, P.E., was confirmed by the State Senate as Pennsylvania's Transportation Secretary in February 2003.

Secretary Biehler was responsible for an organization of about 12,000 employees with an annual budget in excess of $5 billion. PennDOT owns and operates the nation's fifth largest state-owned highway system and administered one of the nation's largest grant programs for mass transit, rail freight and aviation. PennDOT also processes 30 million driver and vehicle customer service transactions each year, and operates the 12 Pennsylvania Welcome Centers which greeted over three-million visitors in 2002.

Before taking the lead at PennDOT, Secretary Biehler amassed 34 years experience in transportation engineering, planning, construction administration and public transportation management.

While a vice president at the international transportation consulting firm of DMJM+Harris, Secretary Biehler was project manager for the North Shore Light Rail Transit connector and for the Strategic Visioning Study--both in Pittsburgh. He also was director of planning and preliminary engineering for the Tren Urbano rail system in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

During a 17-year career at the Port Authority of Allegheny County, Secretary Biehler served as director of planning and business development and later director of planning, engineering and construction. His duties included managing a 50-person staff and more than $500 million in engineering, architecture, construction and value engineering contracts. He directed preparation of the agencyís first strategic plan and business plan and initiated and co directed a collaborative team effort to create an agency-wide vision and critical success measurements. He also played a role in waterway and freight transportation issues in the Port of Pittsburgh region.

Before joining the Port Authority, Secretary Biehler worked for 12 years in city and county government in Pittsburgh on highway and aviation planning. He was involved in the planning for the new landside terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport and in reviews of the administrative organization for the airportís management and operations. He was instrumental in persuading the Port Authority to implement a light rail subway in downtown Pittsburgh.

Secretary Biehler also has served on committees of the Transportation Research Board, the American Public Transportation Association and the University of Pittsburgh. He has written articles for national transportation professional journals and was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Pittsburgh in 1997.

A native of Rochester, New York, Secretary Biehler is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in civil engineering and holds a masterís equivalent certificate in transportation from Yale University. He is a certified professional engineer. He and his wife, Diane, live in Crafton, Allegheny County.

Cynthia Bryant serves as Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Planning and Research for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She advises the Governor on the state budget, redistricting, political reform and gambling. As Director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR), she oversees the State Clearinghouse, the OPR Legislative and Policy and Research units and the Office of the Small Business Advocate.

Ms. Bryant also serves on several state boards and commissions. She is a member of the Commission on State Mandates, which determines reimbursements and adjudicates claims regarding state-mandated programs for local entities. She is also a nonvoting member of the Housing Finance Agency Board, which works to create affordable rental housing and assist first-time homebuyers in achieving the dream of homeownership.

In addition, Ms. Bryant sits on the Governor's Prevention Advisory Council which coordinates the State's strategic efforts to reduce the incidence and prevalence of inappropriate alcohol, tobacco and other drug use by youth and adults, and the Environmental Justice Inter Agency Working Group.

She previously served the Governor as Chief Deputy Legislative Affairs Secretary. In that role, she was responsible for moving the Governorís legislative agenda, advising the Governor on all pending legislation and issues before the legislature and working with over 70 agencies and departments on legislative matters. She was one of the lead negotiators for the Governor on his landmark Workers Compensation reform.

Prior to joining the administration, Ms. Bryant was the policy director for the Senate Republican Caucus. She managed the Senate Republican Policy staff, advised Republican senators on pending legislation and was Republican consultant for the Senate Elections and Reapportionment Committee. Prior to joining the Senate, Ms. Bryant was legal counsel to the Assembly Republican Caucus, advising staff and Members on a wide-range of issues including employment, use of state resources and particularly the Political Reform Act. Ms. Bryant was legal counsel to the Assembly Rules Committee when Republicans held the Assembly majority in 1996. Prior to her service with the Assembly, Ms. Bryant was Vice President and Media Services Director for the national political consulting firm of Russo Marsh + Raper, Inc. In 1994, she directed the media placement campaign for George Patakiís successful campaign for New York Governor, among others.

Ms. Bryant received her juris doctor from University of California Hastings College of the Law and her B.A. from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

David Crane served as Special Advisor to the Governor for Jobs and Economic Growth. Before joining the Schwarzenegger Administration, Crane was a partner for 25 years with a financial advisory firm that grew from one office with five employees when he joined in 1979 to a multi-national enterprise with hundreds of employees by the time he retired in 2003. Crane also sits on the boards of the California Economic Development Commission and the California High Speed Rail Authority and lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.

Donna Cooper is a Senior Fellow with the Economic Policy team at American Progress.

Formerly the deputy mayor and secretary of policy and planning for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Cooper brings 20 years managing large-scale programs to assist struggling families to exit poverty. Her experience ranges from homeless jobs programs to holistic training and support programs aimed at single mothers. She designed the Greater Philadelphia Works program, one of the nation's largest and most successful efforts to help women on welfare achieve self-sufficiency. In founding Good Schools Pennsylvania she cemented equitable funding for public education as the number one issue in Pennsylvania's 2002 gubernatorial race. The victor in that race, Ed Rendell, hired Cooper as his secretary of policy leading his education improvement strategy.

In her eight years as secretary, the Pennsylvania education strategy boosted student achievement more than any other state in the nation while also making record progress for closing the school funding gap. Cooper also led Rendell's energy, infrastructure, and health care teams, which crafted innovative strategies that led Pennsylvania to the front of the pack in achieving reduction in greenhouse gases, expanded renewable energy production, jobs created from infrastructure investment, and the most effective chronic care reduction system in the nation. She is a native Philadelphian.

John Feinblatt was appointed Chief Advisor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for Policy and Strategic Planning in February 2010. He works in close consultation with the Mayor, Deputy Mayors, and Commissioners in the development and implementation of policies that cut across city agencies. In addition, he leads the Mayor's national coalitions on guns, immigration reform and infrastructure investment. Mr. Feinblatt has held the position of Criminal Justice Coordinator for the City of New York since January 2002. He serves as the Mayor's chief advisor on criminal justice policy and liaison to the state court system, the city's five elected District Attorneys and the state criminal justice system.

Prior to joining the Bloomberg administration, Mr. Feinblatt was the founding director of the Center for Court Innovation. The recipient of the 1998 Innovations in American Government award from the Ford Foundation and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Center is the country's leading think tank devoted to problem solving justice and has created national models for drug courts, community courts, mental health courts, prisoner re-entry courts and domestic violence courts.

Before the Center, Mr. Feinblatt was the founding director of the Midtown Community Court, which was created as part of the economic revitalization effort in Times Square. The Midtown Court is now the model for over 60 community courts in this country and abroad.

Mr. Feinblatt has been appointed by the Chief Judge of New York State to serve on the Commission on the Future of Probation, the Commission on the Future of New York State Courts and the Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration. He has also served as the board chair of Bowery Residents Committee, one of New York City's largest independent agencies serving the homeless.

Mr. Feinblatt is the co-author of "Good Courts: The Case for Problem-Solving Justice" published in 2005 by The New Press. In addition, he has contributed articles and opinion pieces to Law and Policy, Court Manager, Judicature, Fordham Urban Law Review, The New York Times, New York Newsday, New York Post, Daily News and other publications. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University.

Ms. O’Hare brings nearly 25 years of expertise in policy development and implementation, management, Congressional, state and local governmental relations, coalition building and issue advocacy. She most recently served as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), where she provided executive leadership to an agency with more than 2,500 employees and an annual budget of $40 million.  Prior to working for the FHWA, Ms. O’Hare served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).  While at DOT, O’Hare was part of a select team that implemented the Secretary’s National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network.  This team worked to educate state and local leaders as well as the business community in targeted states about how to develop public-private partnerships and innovative ways to address traffic congestion.  Prior, Ms. O’Hare served as Deputy Director in the Office of Federal Affairs for Governor George Pataki (R-NY), Legislative Director for Congressman Peter King (R-NY), and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY).

Marcia Hale joins Building America’s Future Educational Fund after serving as a Managing Director for McKenna, Long and Aldridge, an international law firm in Washington, DC.  Prior, Ms. Hale advised several organizations including the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  During the Clinton administration, Ms. Hale served as Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House. In this capacity, she was responsible for coordinating policy initiatives and political outreach involving state and local elected officials.  Ms. Hale began her Washington, DC experience as a Legislative Assistant to US Representative Butler Derrick of South Carolina and several years later was named the Washington office Director for Governor  Dick Riley (D-SC). She has also held senior level positions in government and national campaigns, as well as working at both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC).

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed Michelle Goldstein as Executive Director of the Office of Federal Affairs on January 4, 2010. The Office of Federal Affairs, established by Mayor John Lindsay, is charged with ensuring New Yorkers get their fair share of federal dollars and that policies made on Capitol Hill and in the White House address the needs of the nation's largest city. Michelle plays a central role in the work to shape the national policies Mayor Bloomberg has targeted as priorities, including the campaign against illegal guns, the support of long-term infrastructure investments, and the new efforts to promote sensible immigration reform.  Michelle played an important part in the successful passage of legislation to provide health care and compensation to the responders and survivors of the September 11th attacks.

Prior to that she led New York City's State legislative affairs office since 2006, spearheading the City's successful efforts to pass major pieces of state legislation, including bills that reauthorized mayoral control of the public school system, cut taxes for many small businesses and advanced the Administration's ambitious environmental agenda.

Before joining the Bloomberg Administration, Goldstein served as Director of Government Affairs for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Prior to that, she held a variety of government relations positions within City government including Director of Local Government Relations for the Department of Education, Legislative Director for the Office of Management and Budget and Deputy Director of the Office of State Legislative Affairs.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Administration from the Baruch College School of Public Affairs. Born and raised in New York City, Goldstein currently lives in Washington, DC.