Ray Jefferson is an American government official and retired military officer who served as assistant secretary of labor for the

Veterans' Employment and Training Service The United States Office of the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training (OASVET) was established by Secretary's Order No. 5-81 in December 1981. The assistant secretary position was created by P.L. 96-466 in October 1980, to rep ...

. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. During a training session while serving as an Army officer with Special Forces, he lost all of his fingers on his left hand while attempting to protect his teammates from a defective hand grenade that was detonating prematurely. In 2009 he was appointed to his position at the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...

. He resigned in 2011 after an Inspector General's report concluded he violated federal procurement rules. In 2019 the Inspector General reversed its ruling, stating the claims were unsubstantiated. As of 2020 he worked as the president of a global leadership consultancy company.

Early life and education

Jefferson's parents were public servants. He was raised in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

. Jefferson graduated from the

in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in leadership. Jefferson earned a Master of Public Administration in Strategic Management from the

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

, graduating with distinction as a Littauer Fellow. He also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and received the Dean's Award for exceptional leadership and service.

Career

Military and government service

Jefferson served as an Army Officer with the infantry and Special Forces, as well as the Presidential Honor Guard,

3rd Ranger Battalion The 3rd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Fort Benning, Georgia, is the third of three Ranger Battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. History World War II Ranger Organization by Major Herman Dammer After the ...

, and

1st Special Forces Group The 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) (1st SFG) (A) is a unit of the U.S. Army Special Forces operating under the United States Pacific Command. It is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions throughout the Indo-Pacific Command ...

. In 1999, he lost all five fingers on his left hand while attempting to protect his teammates from a hand grenade detonating prematurely during Special Forces training. Jefferson recuperated from his injuries at the

Tripler Army Medical Center Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) is a major United States Department of Defense medical facility administered by the United States Army in the state of Hawaii. It is the tertiary care hospital in the Pacific Rim, serving local active and retire ...

in Hawaii. Jefferson served as a White House Fellow from 2000 to 2001 as a special assistant to the

United States secretary of commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

and the

under secretary of state for management The Under Secretary of State for Management is a position within the United States Department of State that serves as principal adviser to the Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State on matters relating to the allocation and use of Depa ...

. Jefferson then served as a

Fulbright Fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

in Singapore studying leadership within Asian contexts. In January 2003 Jefferson was appointed deputy director of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. In July 2003, Jefferson was awarded the Harrison H. Schmitt Leadership Award for dedication to public service. He also worked in Singapore as a leadership consultant at McKinsey & Company developing leadership training and development programs for his clients.

United States Department of Labor

In 2009, Jefferson was appointed 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 ...

as assistant secretary for the

(VETS) of the United States Department of Labor. Jefferson resigned from his position as assistant secretary on July 25, 2011, following accusations that he violated federal procurement rules. An Inspector General's report alleged that two whistleblowers reported that Jefferson directed VETS employees to award contracts to management consultant Stewart Liff at a higher cost than what could have been procured in an open selection process. On September 26, 2019 the inspector general reversed a predecessor's finding stating the accusations could not be substantiated. The government also agreed to pay some of Jefferson's legal fees.

Post-government career

Jefferson is the President of Jefferson Group, a global leadership consultancy based in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Department of Veterans Affairs

In March 2022, Jefferson was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as under secretary of veterans affairs for benefits. However, his nomination was withdrawn on July 11, 2022 after stalling in committee over Republicans' objections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Ray Living people Harvard Kennedy School alumni United States Military Academy alumni Harvard Business School alumni United States Department of Labor officials 1966 births People from Guilderland, New York