Oakland, CA– 07-31-09 – Port of Oakland hires Ms. Sara Lee, formerly an investment banker, as its Chief Financial Officer. Port of Oakland Executive Director Omar Benjamin said, “Sara Lee is an excellent fit for her new role at our Port because she has extensive public sector finance experience advising transportation clients including the Port of Oakland and other significant US West Coast seaports and airports.” The Port’s Deputy Executive Director of Financial Services, Douglas Waring, will be retiring in late 2009. This period of overlap will allow for a smooth and sound transition regarding responsibility for the Port’s financial matters during this challenging economic time.

Ms. Sara Lee has over 15 years of investment banking experience, largely in public sector finance. Prior to the Port of Oakland, Ms. Lee was Vice President, Public Sector and Infrastructure Finance Group, Investment Banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in San Francisco, CA. She joined the firm in 1998. Ms. Lee led the execution of transactions and was responsible for the quantitative analysis of more than $30 billion in municipal bond offerings, project financings, and public-private partnerships. The Port of Oakland was one of Lee’s first clients upon joining Goldman Sachs and she has participated in virtually every Port of Oakland bond issuance since.

Prior to Goldman Sachs, Lee was with Paine Webber Incorporated (now UBS Investment Bank). She held the position of Assistant Vice President from 1997 to 1998, structuring municipal bond offerings for transportation and health care issuers in the U.S. Ms. Lee received her Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics, magna cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Benjamin added, “Having served as the Port’s senior banker for more than ten years, Sara has a solid understanding of our organization and business lines. She thinks strategically and will be of great help to us as we move forward.”

About the Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland oversees the Oakland seaport, Oakland International Airport and 20 miles of waterfront. The Oakland seaport is the fifth busiest container port in the U.S.; Oakland International Airport offers 150 daily nonstop flights to 35 destinations; and the Port’s real estate includes commercial developments such as Jack London Square and hundreds of acres of public parks and conservation areas. The Port of Oakland was established in 1927 and is an independent department of the City of Oakland. Please visit: www.portofoakland.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Port of Oakland
Marilyn Sandifur, Port Spokesperson
Media & Public Relations Department
(510) 627-1193
Click here to contact Marilyn Sandifur