Bio
Former Treasurer Rosie Rios became an Accidental Educator, Historian and Feminist as one of the longest serving senior Treasury officials in the Obama Administration starting with her time on the Treasury/Federal Reserve Transition Team at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. She continues her work to empower the next generation of leadership as a Visiting Scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and focuses on evolving our culture one Millennial/post-Millennial at a time.
As the 43rd Treasurer of the United States, Rosie Rios initiated and led the historic effort to place a portrait of a woman on our Federal Reserve notes for the first time in U.S. history. In her role as Treasurer of the United States, Rosie was the Chief Executive Officer of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint, including Fort Knox. Her day-to-day responsibilities included overseeing all currency and coin production activities with almost 4,000 employees in eight facilities nationwide and an annual budget of approximately $5 billion.
In the first five years of her tenure, she saved over $1 billion by implementing efficiencies and innovative concepts while meeting increased production demand and increasing employee morale at record levels. Rosie’s entire career has focused on real estate finance, economic development and urban revitalization in both the public and private sectors. Prior to her presidential appointment in Treasury, Rosie was Managing Director of Investments for a $22 billion real estate investment management firm based in San Francisco.
Following her time in Treasury, Rosie launched her first educational project, Teachers Righting History, on August 26, Equality Day, to recognize historical American women in classrooms across the country and continues to consult on large urban revitalization efforts across the country.
Rosie is a graduate of Harvard University and was selected as the first Latina in Harvard’s 380-year history to have a portrait commissioned in her honor. In January 2018, she was appointed as a member of USA 250, a Congressional Commission to commemorate the 250thanniversary of the nation’s founding in 2026. She remains active in real estate finance and is consulting on several transformational projects in the Bay Area under her “RESCUE” initiative: Real Estate for Socially Conscious Urban Empowerment.