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 rail s ...

. 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. Her father is attorney

Lee Franklin Feinberg Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, a West Virginia state legislator, and her mother is

Mary Elizabeth Stanley Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also cal ...

, until 2013 a U.S. District Court judge in West Virginia. She attended

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexing ...

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

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. A ...

in 2008-09, studying Middle East foreign policy.

Early career

Feinberg spent a number of years on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

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 and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadership in the chamber. In its ...

, 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 served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...

. From 2009-10, she served in the Obama administration as special assistant to the president, and senior advisor to White House Chief of Staff

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

Career

Communications

Feinberg served as

Bloomberg LP Bloomberg L.P. is a 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 Zegar, and a ...

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

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

(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 Anthony Renard Foxx (born April 30, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of Transportation from 2013 to 2017. President Barack Obama nominated him in April 2013, and he was confirmed by a 100–0 ...

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 an ...

, 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 served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in June 2015, and confirmed by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. Feinberg served on the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

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 Nort ...

, starting in 2015. Feinberg was instrumental in helping Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

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 public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in t ...

(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 Andy 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 Authori ...

. 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, 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 whose mission is to record, preserve, and share the stories of Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs. StoryCorps grew out of Sound Portraits Productions as a project founded in 2003 by radio ...

board of directors.

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 the Senior Advisor to the President of the United States, Barack Obama, for strategy and communications from 2013 to 2015. Pfeiffe ...

References

External links

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