Alumni Spotlight: Deborah Gallegos MBA (Berkeley Haas)

For this University of California Haas School of Business MBA, a solid education has paid off. And not just for herself but for those that can retire comfortably thanks to her.

Deborah Gallegos (Berkeley – Haas ’95) was the Chief Investment Officer of New York City’s pension funds in 2005, which possesses a combined total of $85 billion. It’s one of the most complicated retirement fund systems in the country. As the CIO for the City of New York, she was charged with handling the money that enabled some of the most vital groups of urban employees – firefighters, teachers, cops and civil servants – to have comfortable retirement years.

With a ‘humble’ beginning as an analyst for JP Morgan, Gallegos serves as a powerful example of just what avenues emerge with an MBA in one’s hand.

After earning the position of VP at JP Morgan, she left the company and advanced to her first government position as the Deputy State Investment Officer for the State of New Mexico. This role allowed Gallegos to further flex her skills in fund management, overseeing more than $11 billion in assets. She broke ground during this time by developing and implementing a strategy for New Mexico’s National Private Equity Program. She was also in charge of managing its 21 employees.

From here Gallegos’ experience took her to New York, where she was in charge of 89 employees and responsible for preparing a budget of $3.8 billion for New York’s Bureau of Asset Management. In addition, she directed the $8 billion to the city’s Alternatives Investment Program. As if this weren’t enough, New York’s collective asset funds were also in her charge. Gallegos was responsible for developing long term policy for how to invest $90 billion, in addition to forming corporate governance guidelines and management structure.

Her impressive resume shows the displays her experience in public and private investment. “I know how to work with trustees, work in the government sector, and to compete with the street,” she notes in a profile from Berkeley-Haas.

Gallegos’ flexibility has been informed not only through her education and experience, but by her identity. The reality of her position as a minority woman in business brings to bear the extra layer of challenge in the lives and careers of some of our strongest business leaders.

“Being a minority woman, I have benefited from the advice of mentors over the years,” says Gallegos, “That’s been important to me – having people who give long-term career advice and who have an interest in helping me succeed.”

Gallegos shifted again from the public sector to the private in 2007, when she became an SVP for Strategic Investment Solutions, a small investment management company that services such industries as pharma, government, mass merchandising, and healthcare.

She then advanced to board membership and service on the Investment Committee at Stern Grove Festival Association, where she continues to serve. Stern Grove is a non-profit which offers Bay Area residents access to free performing arts events. Here, she is responsible for the review of budgets and consultation and advisement on the Board’s finances.

She also serves as a Senior Investment Manager at CSAA Insurance Group, who insures AAA. Here, she is responsible for co-investment of the company’s $6 billion portfolio, the $400 million defined contribution plan, and a $1 billion tax exempt pension fund.

In the past, she has somehow found the time to serve as an investment committee member for the City College of San Francisco, and as a board member for the New Mexico Community Foundation, a social services agency.

Gallegos’ career is an inspiring example of the great richness of a career that holds a combination of social impact and highly specialized financial asset management skills.

regions: San Francisco

About the Author