The Houston City Controller’s Office currently has 61 full-time employees. Of those 61 employees, 52% are African American, 16% are Hispanic, 18% are Asian, and 11% are Caucasian. The Controller’s Office is also comprised of 64% women and 36% men.

With the recent appointment of Beverly Riggans as Interim Deputy Controller for the Financial Reporting Division, four out of five Executive Level employees are African American and one is Hispanic. Those employees are:

• Shannan Nobles; Chief Deputy Controller
• Courtney Smith; City Auditor
• Charisse Mosely; Deputy City Controller, Treasury
• Beverly Riggans; Interim Deputy Controller, Financial Reporting
• Alexander Obregon; Deputy Controller, Operations & Technical Services

“The Controller’s Office is fortunate to have such a hard-working, talented team,” added Controller Brown. “While diversity is important, it is not diversity for diversity’s sake – we aim to hire the most qualified, committed candidates for any role. Every employee in the Controller’s Office comes to work with the same goal – keeping an eye on your hard-earned tax dollars. That’s our responsibility to the Controller’s Office and, most importantly, that is our responsibility to City of Houston taxpayers.”

Since being sworn into office in January 2016, Houston City Controller Chris Brown has made diversity a priority in the Controller’s Office. This commitment was born out of Controller Brown’s desire to reflect the diversity of the City of Houston in the makeup of his staff.

“Diversity is one of our city’s biggest strengths,” said Controller Brown. “It’s important to me that the Controller’s Office is representative of that diversity, and accurately portrays the makeup of all of our communities.”

Prior to being elected, Brown served as Chief Deputy City Controller for six years, where he managed the day-to-day operations of the Controller’s Office and oversaw the Executive Division. Prior to being appointed Chief Deputy City Controller in 2009, Brown served as City Council Chief of Staff. Controller Brown began his career two decades ago, as a trader for Coastal Securities, an investment bank, where he focused on analysis of equities. He later co-founded an equity trading firm. He attended Texas Christian University and obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and later a Master in Business Administration from the University of Houston. Brown is also a licensed real estate broker.

This article originally appeared in the Houston Forward Times