Lisa MacDonald

Director, Identity Capabilities Management Division, Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM)

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Lisa MacDonald is the Director of the Identity Capabilities Management Division (ICMD) in the Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), within the Management Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Ms. MacDonald leads OBIM’s strategy, privacy, policy, external affairs, acquisition, and related functions, in support of OBIM’s role as the lead entity in DHS for biometric services that enable DHS and mission partner operations. Ms. MacDonald recently completed a five month developmental assignment in the DHS Office of Partnership and Engagement (OPE), where she served as first the Acting Executive Director for OPE’s Office of Social Impact, then Acting Executive Director for OPE’s Office of Academic Engagement. In these capacities, Ms. MacDonald led Departmental programs and initiatives in support of making DHS more accessible to underserved and underrepresented communities and played a key role in the launch of the Secretary's Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council. A 2018 Women in Biometrics award winner, Ms. MacDonald has more than 25 years of professional experience spanning both public and private sector organizations. Previously, Ms. MacDonald served as the Capability and Policy Coordination Branch Chief within ICMD. She led three Sections with responsibility for privacy, policy, and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); strategic planning and external affairs; and performance measurement, compliance, governance, and acquisition planning. Before joining OBIM, Ms. MacDonald held leadership roles at the Department of the Army’s Biometrics Identity Management Agency (BIMA), an Army organization with a joint mission for Department of Defense biometrics. Ms. MacDonald led BIMA’s strategic planning, policy development, governance, outreach, and interagency coordination. Ms. MacDonald also has twelve years of prior experience in management consulting. She led multimillion dollar projects that engaged multidisciplinary teams to deliver results for Federal clients in the areas of strategic planning, performance measurement, organizational design, process improvement, and change management. Ms. MacDonald holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Georgetown University and a Master of Public Administration degree from George Mason University. She also holds Project Management Professional (PMP) and Change Management certifications.

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