Sarah Elizabeth Feinberg (born October 3, 1977) is an American civic employee who previously served as the Interim President of the

New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...

from 2020 to 2021, and a former Administrator of the

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce railroa ...

. She was nominated for the role of MTA Chairperson but was ultimately not selected for the position. Her background is mostly in communications.

Early life and education

Feinberg is a native of

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. Her father is attorney Lee Franklin Feinberg, a West Virginia state legislator, and her mother is Mary Elizabeth Stanley, until 2013 a U.S. District Court judge in West Virginia. She attended

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

, where she obtained a B.A. in Politics in 1999. She also attended

National Defense University National Defence (or Defense) University (or College) may refer to: :''Alphabetical by country'' University * Marshal Fahim National Defense University, Afghanistan * National Defense University (Azerbaijan) * People's Liberation Army National Defe ...

in 2008-09, studying Middle East foreign policy.

Early career

Feinberg spent a number of years on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

beginning in 1999, including working for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, as the communications director for the

House Democratic Caucus The House Democratic Caucus is a congressional caucus composed of all Democratic representatives in the United States House of Representatives, voting and non-voting, and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadersh ...

, the press secretary at the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

, and the national press secretary to then-Senate Minority Leader

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who represented South Dakota in the United States Senate from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he led the Senate Democratic Caucus during the ...

. From 2009-10, she served in the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

as special assistant to the president, and senior advisor to

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

Career

Communications

Feinberg served as

Bloomberg LP Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately-held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zeg ...

’s Global Communications Director (2010-11), and as the Director of Policy and Crisis Communications at

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

(2011-13). In 2017 she founded Feinberg Strategies, LLC, a strategic business and communications consulting practice focused on the tech sector.

Transportation

From 2013 to 2015 she served as chief of staff of

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

Anthony R. Foxx in the

US Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

, providing strategic advice and counsel to the Secretary regarding operational and legislative initiatives. Feinberg, from 2015 to 2017, served as the 13th Administrator of the

, the safety regulator of the U.S. rail system, becoming the second woman in history to do so. She was nominated for the post by

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

in June 2015, and confirmed by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. Feinberg served on the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

board of directors during that time, and has been a member of the

Northeast Corridor Commission Congress established the Northeast Corridor Commission (the Commission) under Sec. 212 of Public Law 110-432 (Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008) to promote mutual cooperation and planning among owners and operators on the North ...

, starting in 2015. Feinberg was instrumental in helping Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

resolve a LIRR dispute in 2016. Beginning in February 2019, she was a member of the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

(MTA) Board, where she was the Transit Committee Chair. In March 2020, Cuomo appointed her interim President of the

after the resignation of

Andy Byford Andrew Byford (born 1965) is a British transport executive who has held several management-level positions in transport authorities around the world, such as the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Autho ...

. She stepped away from her position as an MTA Board member to serve. On June 8, 2021, Cuomo nominated Feinberg to be chairperson of the MTA, succeeding

Pat Foye Patrick Joseph Foye (born January 31, 1957) is an American lawyer who served as chairman and CEO of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Prior to this role, he served as president of the MTA and executive director of the Por ...

, who had been both chairperson and CEO. Due to opposition to splitting the top role between two people, the state Senate did not act on her nomination; as a result, Feinberg left the MTA on July 30, 2021.

Other work

Feinberg currently serves on the

StoryCorps StoryCorps is an American non-profit organization which aims to record, preserve, and share the stories of Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs. Its mission statement is "to help us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and po ...

board of directors. She is currently a Senior Advisor at the MarTech startup, Applecart.

Personal

She is a resident of the East Village in Manhattan, New York City, with her partner and daughter. She was previously married to

Dan Pfeiffer Howard Daniel Pfeiffer (born December 24, 1975) is an American political advisor, author, and podcast host. He was senior advisor to President Barack Obama for strategy and communications from 2013 to 2015. Pfeiffer was a long-time aide to Oba ...

References

External links

Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feinberg, Sarah 1977 births Living people 21st-century American railroad executives Administrators of the Federal Railroad Administration Bloomberg L.P. people Executives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Facebook employees National Defense University alumni Obama administration personnel People from Charleston, West Virginia People from the East Village, Manhattan Washington and Lee University alumni New York City Transit Authority people