Director, Financial Operations

Cassandra Alexander currently serves as the director for financial operations within the Office of Financial Operations and Systems (OFOS). In this capacity, she is responsible for the day-to-day operating activities within OFOS and has general oversight responsibility for the office’s administrative and support functions, organizational and strategic planning, personnel/human resource management, purchasing and procurement, staff training, and communication.

Prior to assuming her current position, Alexander served as a Financial Reporting and Policy manager in OFOS’s Financial Control and Reporting division for more than six years. In that position, she played a key role in the production and issuance of the District’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), being responsible for the document’s transmittal letter, management’s discussion & analysis, financial statement disclosures, and required supplementary information. Additional responsibilities included developing strategies for implementing new accounting standards, performing technical research on accounting issues, preparing statements of position and “white papers” on new standards and emerging issues, and other similar functions.

During her tenure with the District government, she has held other posts within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer: chief financial officer for the University of the District of Columbia; branch chief for Education and Employment within the Office of Budget and Planning; deputy director for OFOS’s Financial Control and Reporting Division, and senior auditor within OFOS’s Internal Control Unit (a precursor to the current Office of Integrity and Oversight). Alexander’s District experience also includes more than four years with the Office of the DC Auditor, where she worked as a senior financial auditor.

Prior to joining the District government, Alexander worked as a senior auditor and management consultant with two regional accounting firms, F.S. Taylor & Associates and Bert Smith & Company. During her tenure in public accounting, she gained extensive experience in auditing governmental entities (including the District of Columbia) and non-profit organizations, as well as evaluating internal controls and operational effectiveness. In addition, she gained significant experience in nonprofit accounting having worked for several years as the controller/director of Finance and Administration with two nonprofit organizations, TERRIFIC, Inc./Grandma’s House and Covenant House Washington.

Alexander holds an master's of business administration degree in accounting from Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, and a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.