Ms. Geraldine French
Gerri French was appointed Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) Office of Planning, Analysis and Risk Management in December 2022. In this role, Ms. French is responsible for supporting food safety and protecting public health through data analysis, strategic planning, evaluation, enterprise risk management and internal controls. Ms. French oversees the Chief Data Scientist, Chief Risk Officer, Evaluation Officer and Statistical Officer. Her efforts directly impact FSIS’ Strategic Goal 2: Modernize Inspection Systems, Policies and the Use of Scientific Approaches.
Ms. French has served in a variety of roles since she started with FSIS in November 2000. Most recently, she was the Executive Associate for Regulatory Operations within the Office of Field Operations (OFO). In this role, she was responsible for supporting the OFO District Offices that oversee geographically dispersed plants to ensure that meat, poultry and egg products are inspected for wholesomeness, safety and truthful labeling.
Prior to her role in OFO, Ms. French worked in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and served in a variety of roles including as the Director of the Audit Liaison and Financial Analysis Division where she managed a multi-disciplinary team that focused on program evaluation and survey efforts, strategic planning and performance reporting, internal controls over financial reporting, and Office of Inspector General and Government Accountability Office audit liaison activities. Ms. French also served as Acting Director of the Performance, Evaluation, and Planning Staff and as the Team Lead of the Program Evaluation and Improvement Staff. In these roles, she directed and oversaw multiple evaluation and survey efforts focused on assessments of organizational effectiveness to ensure the highest levels of service to the American people and the safety of the food supply. She also promoted the successful development and subsequent adoption of innovative initiatives including an Agency evaluation framework that encouraged the use of evaluation findings in operational decisions.
Since joining FSIS in November 2000, Ms. French has worked as a Program Analyst in the Office of Policy and Program Development and in the Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit. In both roles, she oversaw development of study designs, data analyses and reporting.
Ms. French earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Studies from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.