Linda J. Bilmes is a leading expert on budgeting and public finance. She is a full-time faculty member at Harvard University, teaching public finance, regional finance and budgeting. She leads the university’s training in public finance for newly elected United States members of Congress and mayors. Ms. Bilmes was twice confirmed as Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of the United States Department of Commerce by the United States Senate. She is currently a Presidential appointee on the National Park System Advisory Board of the United States Department of the Interior. She serves on the Boards of Directors of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University and Economists for Peace and Security, a distinguished body dedicated to promoting non-military solutions to world challenges. Professor Bilmes has authored or co-authored numerous books, book chapters and articles on the costs of war, the value of public lands, conservation, and finance. She has published “Total Economic Valuation of the National Park Service Lands and Programs” (2016), which established an economic value of United States national park assets for the first time. Her work has been published in a number of prominent newspapers, magazines and other publications. She was the recipient of the 2008 “Speaking Truth to Power” Award by the American Friends Service Committee. Previously, she was a Principal in London, Madrid and Moscow with an international management consulting firm. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, both based in the United States. She holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University and a D. Phil in Public Policy from the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.