Lazaro "Larry" dela Cruz serves as the agency fiscal officer (AFO) for the Department of Energy and Environment and has more than 36 years of experience in roles that span municipal financial management (including operating and capital budgets formulation and analysis; infrastructure and project capital financial planning; strategic business development; and project management to support debt service of operating budgets of clean water and waste water utilities) and multilateral development finance.

Before joining the OCFO, dela Cruz worked with the New York City Municipal Government and assumed progressive financial roles with increasing responsibilities starting with the NYC Office of Management and Budget (OMB) assigned to the Department of Sanitation. While at OMB, he was lead budget role in the implementation of NYC's recycling program. He later worked for the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Capital Budget Management Division. As the senior lead capital budget role with DEP, he was in the core financial team that oversaw the construction and completion of NYC's $5-billion Croton Water Filtration Plant, $1.75 billion Catskill-Delaware Ultraviolet Disinfectant Facility, and NYC's $500-million Green Infrastructure Program.

After 30 years of dedicated public service, dela Cruz left NYC government as senior capital budget director at DEP to accept a diplomatic position and dedicated three years to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), headquartered in Beijing, People's Republic of China. He was AIIB's pioneer and first senior budget management specialist when this nascent multilateral development finance institution was inaugurated in 2016. In the absence of a formal robust budget system during AIIB’s embryonic stage, he successfully put in place the bank's operating and capital budgets during its first two years of operation. After three privileged years, he returned to the United States to DEP in 2019 to be deputy chief of Capital Budget and Procurement at the Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations and managed a 10-Year Capital Improvement Plan, totaling $14.1 billion.

He earned a master's in business administration (concentration in international finance) from Fordham University, New York City (Beta Gamma Sigma) and a bachelor's in economics with the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, where he also graduated with honors. He is currently in the process of earning a certificate as a certified project management professional (PMP).