Board of Directors
Bios:
Jeffrey W. Bullock, Secretary of State & Chair
Jeffrey W. Bullock was appointed Delaware’s 80th Secretary of State in 2009 by then Governor Jack Markell and re-appointed in 2017 by Governor John Carney. Secretary Bullock has held the office longer than any other Delaware Secretary of State since the 18th century.
Secretary Bullock also serves as chairman of the Diamond State Port Corporation, which owns the Port of Wilmington and is charged under state law with promoting and supporting the maritime industry in Delaware. As chairman, Secretary Bullock is playing a leadership role in expanding the Port of Wilmington, including building a new port at the Edgemoor facility. This has included securing support for Delaware’s port facilities and its workforce, while marketing the Port of Wilmington nationally and abroad.
During his tenure, Secretary Bullock has worked to make state government more responsive to the citizens it serves, support job creation and economic development across industries, and grow the revenue streams that underpin the state’s core budget priorities.
As head of the most diverse cabinet department in state government, Secretary Bullock oversees nearly two dozen different divisions, whose missions range from preserving Delaware’s historical sites and collections to supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, to serving consumers, public employees, and veterans. Most notable among these agencies is the Division of Corporations, an integral part of the Delaware franchise and the state’s preeminence as America’s “Corporate Capital.” In addition, he has a number of constitutional and statutory responsibilities, including serving on the Board of Pardons and as one of State’s Bond Issuing Officers.
Secretary Bullock was born and raised in Claymont, Delaware, and is a graduate from the University of Delaware. He previously served as Chief of Staff to then-Governor Tom Carper and as Chief Administrative Officer of New Castle County—Delaware’s largest county.
Richard J. “Rick” Geisenberger, Secretary of Finance & Vice Chair
Rick Geisenberger was appointed Delaware’s 18th Secretary of Finance by Governor John Carney in 2017 and is the longest serving Finance Secretary in state history. The Secretary of Finance is Delaware’s chief financial officer and is responsible for promoting the State’s fiscal health through fair and efficient forecasting, generation, collection and accounting of state funds. He oversees the State’s Division of Revenue, Division of Accounting and the State Lottery Office. The Office of the Secretary is also responsible for statewide revenue forecasting, tax policy analysis, unclaimed property administration, and bond finance.
Secretary Geisenberger joined the Board of the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2017 and serves as its Vice Chair. Geisenberger has been a vocal advocate for Delaware’s maritime industry since 1995 when he helped negotiate the purchase of the Port of Wilmington from the City of Wilmington, served as the first Secretary of the newly-formed Diamond State Port Corporation, and worked to build financial support for then record investments at the Port to improve safety, security, and cargo handling capabilities.
Secretary Geisenberger serves on several financial oversight bodies including the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council, the Delaware Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees, the Cash Management Policy Board and the Delaware Plans Management Board to name a few. He co-Chairs the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) which works to promote a culture of continuous improvement across state government and makes annual recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of State spending.
Secretary Geisenberger previously served as Delaware’s Chief Deputy Secretary of State and the Director of the Division of Corporations. Before joining state government as an Economic Policy Advisor to Governor Thomas Carper, he held a variety of private sector positions in banking, finance, treasury services management, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic planning – first with Corestate Financial, then Manufacturers Hanover Corporation and later Delmarva Power.
Darius J. Brown, State Senator
Senator Darius Brown represents the Second Senate District which includes New Castle, Wilmington and Edgemoor. He is committed to expanding economic opportunity by creating pathways out of poverty through restorative justice, workforce competitiveness and infrastructure investment.
Senator Brown has sponsored landmark legislation, including the passage of The Equal Rights Amendment to the state Constitution, The CROWN Act, Juneteenth as a state holiday, and Law Enforcement Body-Worn Cameras. He also sponsored the Adult Expungement Reform Act and the Clean Slate Act to help remove barriers to education, employment and housing for more than 290,000 Delawareans leading the Wilmington News Journal to name him “one of the Statehouse’s champions of criminal justice reform and racial equity.”
Senator Brown currently serves as chair of the Senate Elections & Government Affairs Committee, the vice chair of the Senate Judiciary, and a member of the Senate Labor and Veterans Affairs committees. He also holds a seat on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.
Michael Begatto
Michael Begatto is the Executive Director of Delaware Public Employees Council 81 AFSCME AFL-CIO. He served as the president of the State Federation of the AFL-CIO from 1997 until 2003. He is considered one of the State’s most influential advocates for working men and women in Delaware. Under his leadership, the AFL-CIO reorganized and restructured its Executive Board to reflect the diversity of its membership. He also tripled the amount of funds available for serving its members.
Mr. Begatto’s dedication to community service includes his record as the state’s youngest Big Brother, leading numerous United Way campaigns, and fundraising for the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware and the Leukemia Society of America.
Karen C. Bifferato
Karen Bifferato is a partner at Connolly Gallagher LLP, where she provides securitized transactions opinions and practices in the field of commercial bankruptcy representing all types of creditors, vendors, shareholders and others in chapter 11 and chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. Before becoming a founding partner of Connolly Gallagher LLP ten years ago, she practiced law at Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP for 15 years, where she became partner and was a member of the Management Committee. Prior to that, Karen started her law career at Richards Layton & Finger LLP for approximately 2 ½ years. She graduated in 1994 with a J.D. from William & Mary Law School, and in 1991, she graduated with a B.A. from North Carolina State University.
Karen currently chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Attorney Development Committee at Connolly Gallagher LLP, and is a member of the Attorney Review Committee at Connolly Gallagher LLP. Karen is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Delaware State Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation. Karen has been a member of the Board for the Diamond State Port Corporation (the Port of Wilmington) for the past 15 plus years, and currently serves as President and a member on the Board for Sacred Heart Housing, Inc., which is part of The Ministry of Caring, Inc. community.
Karen currently coaches Archmere Academy’s high school mock trial team and has been coaching mock trial for the past 25 years. Additionally, Karen has helped as an assistant coach for various local cross country and running grade school programs.
Douglas B. Catts
Doug Catts is the Kent County representative on the Diamond State Port Corporation’s Board of Directors which has served since 2000. He is a trial lawyer with the law firm of Schmittinger & Rodriguez, P.A., where he is presently the Managing Attorney. He is known for his work on personal injury and insurance matters including accidents, product liability and medical malpractice. He is the past President of the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association and served on the Delaware Supreme Court’s Permanent Advisory Committee on the Delaware Rules of Evidence since 2000 and been a member of the Delaware State Bar Association’s Committee on Judicial Appointments since 2005.
He graduated from the George Washington University Law School, the George Washington University Undergraduate School, and Seaford High School.
He lives in Dover, Delaware where he has been active for many years in community activities including serving as President of the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce and the Dover Rotary.
Gerard Esposito
Gerard Esposito is the Manager/Owner of Espo Enterprises, LLC. Previously Mr. Esposito was the President of Tidewater Utilities, Inc., responsible for all aspects of managing Delaware’s third largest public water supply company which provided water service to approximately 26,000 customers throughout Delaware.
As the Sussex County representative on the Board, Esposito continues to seek to develop exports of Delaware’s agriculture products through the Port of Wilmington and to enhance trade that will benefit all Delawareans.
Mr. Esposito is a present member of the Board of Directors for: Delaware Solid Waste Authority (Current Chairman), University of Delaware Sea Grant Advisory Committee (Current Chairman),Greater Kent Committee, Delaware Better Business Bureau, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors, Kent Economic Partnership, Sussex Economic Development Action Committee, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, Delaware Commission on Italian Heritage and Culture, Rehoboth Beach/Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce, University of Delaware EPSCoR State Committee, University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Advisory Council. Also an active member of: Delaware State Lobbyist Association, American Water Works Association, Delaware Waste Association of North America.
Shanté A. Hastings
Shanté A. Hastings, P.E., is the Acting Secretary for the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and has worked for DelDOT since graduating from the University of Delaware in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. She has served as the chief engineer for the Department since July 1, 2019, and as Deputy Secretary from January 2021 – December 2024..
Shanté is responsible for implementing the Department’s more than $600 million annual Capital Transportation Program. As deputy secretary, she is also involved with personnel management, legislation, and national transportation policy. She serves as Chair of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Innovation Management Committee, Chair of the AASHTO Committee on Design, and Vice Chair of the AASHTO Committee on Transportation System Operations.
In 2013, Shanté was awarded the Young Engineer of the Year Award by the Delaware Engineering Society in recognition of her work in the field of engineering and community service. In 2024, she was named Government Engineer of the Year by the Delaware Engineering Society. She currently serves on the boards for Leadership Delaware, the Delaware State Fair, the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, and Sussex Academy Charter School. In May 2024, she was nominated and confirmed to the University of Delaware Board of Trustees.
Debra Heffernan, State Representative
Representative Debra Heffernan serves the Sixth Representative District which includes Edgemoor, Holly Oak, and portions of Brandywine Hundred. She was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 2010 and currently Co-Chairs the Joint Committee on Capital Improvement. She is the former President of the Brandywine School Board and an environmental toxicologist with more than 30 years of experience. She has served for fifteen years on the state’s Hazardous Substances Cleanup Act (HSCA) Advisory Committee (originally named the Brownfields Advisory Committee), which is working to protect Delawareans from pollutants while making the state greener and more economically viable. A graduate of Caesar Rodney High School, she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in environmental toxicology from Duke University.
Rep. Heffernan is a member of the Bellefonte Lions Club and volunteers with local nonprofits and Special Olympics of Delaware. She is a 30-year resident of Edgewood Hills, where she lives with her husband, Pat and has three children that all graduated from Brandywine School District schools.
Rep. Heffernan authored Delaware’s paid family and medical leave laws and is proud to have been selected by Parenting magazine as Delaware’s 2010 Outstanding Mom Advocate for Education and represented Delaware at the inaugural Mom Congress held in Washington, D.C.
Nathaniel McQueen, Jr., Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security
Nathaniel McQueen, Jr. was appointed by Governor John Carney to serve as Secretary for the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security (DSHS) on July 13, 2020. He dedicated nearly 32 years of service with the Delaware State Police (DSP) which he led as its Colonel when he retired immediately prior to becoming Secretary. Secretary McQueen currently participates in over 30 committees, councils and task forces. He is actively committed to enhancing the lives and safety of Delawareans and is leading state efforts to improve training, public safety, emergency services, criminal justice, elderly and domestic violence, forensic science and more.
Secretary McQueen began his service career as a Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps and remains loyal to those core values today. Throughout his career at DSP, Secretary McQueen held many leadership positions ultimately serving as Superintendent for 8 years, making him the second longest serving Superintendent in the agency’s history. He has received national accolades from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators as the recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement in Highway Safety Award. He received the 2019 Excellence in Policing Award from the Center for Police Practice, Policy and Research for his innovative strategies that brought change and improved policing.
Secretary McQueen earned a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science from Wilmington University and a Master of Science in Social Work from Delaware State University. He is also a graduate of the 209th session of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute, and the Anti-Defamation League Counterterrorism Training.
Ruth Ann Miller, Controller General
Ruth Ann Miller was appointed to the office of Controller General by the Legislative Council of the Delaware General Assembly in December 2020. The Office of the Controller General is the nonpartisan fiscal oversight arm of Delaware’s legislative branch and is responsible for preparing the state’s annual appropriations legislation. As Controller General, Ruth Ann serves on various committees and boards on behalf of the legislative branch, including the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Committee, the Cash Management Policy Board, and the State Employee Benefits Committee.
Ruth Ann is the first woman to hold the role of Controller General within the Delaware legislature. Her state public service career has spanned over ten years, where she has worked in various financial and program capacities within executive branch agencies before joining the legislative branch in 2018.
Ruth Ann holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Master of Science in Public Administration.
Fred C. Sears, II
Fred C. Sears II has been a community leader in greater Wilmington and throughout the State of Delaware for more than 50 years. He retired as President and CEO of the Delaware Community Foundation in 2015.
Prior to his position with the Foundation, Sears acquired a wealth of experience through a 38-year career in banking which culminated as President of Commerce Bank, Delaware. Early in his banking career, Sears took a leave of absence to serve at Finance Director and as Director of Commerce of the City of Wilmington where he oversaw the operations of the Port of Wilmington, which was owned by the City at that time.
He was elected to City Council from 1976 through 1984 and Chaired the Council’s Finance Committee and Port Committee. He has remained politically active serving as Finance Chair on Mayor Sills Transition team and co-chairing Transition Teams for Governor Ruth Ann Minner in 2000 and County Executive Chris Coons in 2004 and has served as Finance Chair for Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester in each of her campaigns since 2016.
Sears serves as a director of Applied Bank and is currently serves on the Board of Directors of seven local non-profits. He also Chairs the State Council for Development. He has served on more than 50 community non-profit Boards and chaired many capital campaigns and fundraising events for those organizations during his career. In recognition of his outstanding service to Delaware businesses, governments and nonprofits, he was awarded the coveted Josiah Marvel Cup by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce in 2022.
Marietta ‘Peaches’ Whalen
Ms. Whalen, a Delaware labor leader and community activist, worked for General Motors Wilmington Plant for three decades and was the United Auto Workers (UAW) Corporate Communications Coordinator, a position she was appointed to in 1992, and has been retired since 2009. She is the current Vice President of the Delaware State UAW CAP (Community Action Program) Council, a position she’s held since 2005, past Executive Board Member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), Life Member of the NAACP since 1992. Peaches is also a certified union organizer and an AFL-CIO Union Counselor.
She was appointed by Mayor Sills to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for the African American Museum. In 2008 she was appointed to the New Castle County Board of Adjustments by Senator Chris Coons and retired in 2014. In 2009 she was appointed to the Diamond State Port Corporation Board of Directors by Governor Jack Markell; and in 2017 was reappointed by Governor John Carney.
Blessed with boundless energy, a sense of commitment to serve, she has participated in many activities which including the Board of Directors of the Howard High Alumni Association, member of the Women’s Affirmative Action Committee of New Jersey, former member United Way Board of Directors as well as numerous other volunteer activities.
She has received The Nation Building ‘Lean On Me’ Award as well as recognition for outstanding work and community commitment from the Governor of Delaware, Mayor of Wilmington, United Way, Philip Randolph Institute, NCCJ, UAW, ILA, The King Center, ILA and many others. In 1999, she was selected as an honoree in an exhibit “African American Women of Distinction” in Delaware.