The White House Friday released a list of another ten nominees to serve in key roles it is forwarding to the U.S. Senate. Included in the list were two more LGBTQ persons as nominees including Scott Miller, Nominee for Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation and to the Principality of Liechtenstein and Todd Harper, Nominee for Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration.
Despite the pace having picked up on nominations, the President went more than two months into his presidency without naming a single ambassador to send overseas, there are still key vacancies among US ambassadorships. And while Biden has made nominations, the US does not have any confirmed ambassadors installed in key countries such as China, Canada, India, France or Israel, CNN reported.
Scott Miller, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation and to the Principality of Liechtenstein
Scott Miller is an LGBTQ rights activist and philanthropist. As co-chair of the Gill Foundation’s board of directors, Miller directs the foundation’s national giving strategy to advance LGBTQ equality, including public education campaigns to ban conversion therapy and end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.
At the foundation, Miller also oversees local efforts to ensure equal opportunity for all Coloradans, including generous support for K-12 STEM education at numerous Colorado public schools. During the pandemic, Miller led efforts to provide over 5.6 million meals to tens of thousands of his fellow Coloradans to alleviate food insecurity.
Together Miller and his husband, Tim Gill, are among the top contributors to LGBTQ equality issues in the United States. Previously, Miller served as an account vice president at UBS Wealth Management in Denver, Colorado. Miller earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in business administration from the University of Colorado Boulder. Upon graduation, he started his career as a management consultant for Accenture, followed by work as an event planner for global clientele.
Todd Harper, Nominee for Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration
Todd Harper has specialized in financial services policy during his more than 25 years of government service and has led the NCUA Board as Chairman since January 2021. He also chairs the interagency Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
Mr. Harper joined the NCUA Board in April 2019 and is the first NCUA staffer to become a Board Member and Chairman. From 2011 to 2017, he led the agency’s Office of Public and Congressional Affairs and served as the chief policy advisor to two NCUA Chairmen.
Previously, as staff director for the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Harper contributed to the efforts after the financial crisis to enact the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
As legislative director to former Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, he also worked on bipartisan legislation concerning credit union capital rules, terrorism risk insurance, auditing standards and subprime mortgage lending.
A member of the LGBTQ community, Mr. Harper earned an M.P.P. from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a B.S. with high distinction in business analysis from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Story courtesy of the Washington Blade.