Team

Elizabeth Steiner is Oregon’s 30th Treasurer. She is the first woman and first physician to hold this office. Born in New York and raised in Massachusetts, she moved to Oregon in 1991 for her family medicine residency at OHSU. Within in six months of arriving she knew Oregon was home and has been here ever since.

Elizabeth served in the State Senate for thirteen years prior to being elected Treasurer. She served as Senate Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Ways & Means for six years, gaining expertise in managing the state’s budget, engaging in economic development across the state, and working closely with Treasury regarding bonding. Her policy work focused on upstream public health including raising the legal age for tobacco & e-cigarettes to 21 and creating the nation’s first universally-offered home visiting program for families with new babies.

As a family physician Elizabeth knows that financial security is critical for good physical and mental health. She is excited to help more Oregonians achieve better health by building financial security through financial empowerment programs and use of various savings programs offered through the Oregon Treasury.

Elizabeth and her three adult children all live in Portland.

Mr. Alvarez serves as the Director of Debt Management at Oregon State Treasury. He joined Oregon State Treasury as Deputy Director and Senior Debt Program Manager of the Debt Management Division in December 2021. Mr. Alvarez manages the debt management staff, functions and operations of Oregon State Treasury.  He serves as the State of Oregon Treasurer’s designee with regards to the issuance of debt for Oregon state agencies and oversee the issuance of all debt statewide.  His activities also include serving as Chair the Private Activity Bond Committee, staff the Municipal Debt Advisory Commission and the Oregon Facilities Authority and serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Infrastructure Finance Authority for Oregon Business Development. Mr. Alvarez works with the various agencies to manage the state’s credit strategy and bond underwriting engagements to provide the most cost-effective financing for the State.

Mr. Alvarez previously served as Division Manager of the Capital Management and Debt Management Division of the Finance Department for the City of Houston, Texas. He earned his MBA from Texas Southern University and his BBA in Finance from the University of Houston.

Mr. Vasanth is the Deputy Director of Debt Management at Oregon State Treasury after joining as a Senior Financial Analyst in July 2022. Mr. Vasanth assists the Director in carrying out the functions and operations of Debt Management and helps manage some of the staff responsible for maintaining the bond database and produce the Annual State Debt Policy Advisory Commission Report. He helps with the issuance of all debt statewide. Mr. Vasanth works with the various Agencies along with the Director of Debt Management to help maintain the State’s credit profile and manage the issuance process to obtain cost-effective financing for the governmental and quasi-governmental issuers in Oregon. He is also one of Treasury’s liaisons with the Oregon Facilities Authority that helps 501(c)(3) non-profit borrowers access the tax-exempt market place.

Mr. Vasanth has served as Managing Director of Debt Capital Markets at Barclays, Director of Debt Capital Markets at Deutsche Bank Securities and as a Manager at General Motors Treasurer’s Office. He also has extensive experience with commodities futures trading. He graduated with an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from Loyola College.

Mrs. Nelson became the Department of Administrative Service Capital Finance Manager in March 2023, after serving as the Capital Finance Analyst since 2016. The Capital Finance unit has direct responsibility for managing several independent financing programs and coordinating statewide budgeting for bonds and capital construction. The section is responsible for the issuance and administration of several state constitutional bonding programs, including Article XI-Q, XI-F(1), XI-G, XI-L, XI-M, XI-N, XI-O and XI-P bonds and other financing agreements. The unit also coordinates issuance and administers the State Lottery Bonds, Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs) and the Pension Obligation Bond Program.

Prior to being part of the Capital Finance unit, Mrs. Nelson served in several accounting, budgeting and policy roles in Oregon state government since 1998. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Western Oregon University in 2002.

Matthew Harris serves as the Assistant Director of Capital Markets for the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department. Prior to joining the Department in July 2021, Mr. Harris served as a Debt Program Manager for the Oregon State Treasury. From July 2013 to May 2020, Mr. Harris served as the Senior Debt Analyst for nearly 6 years, and then as the Debt Manager at the Oregon Department of Transportation. Mr. Harris also served as a Debt Analyst for the Oregon State Treasury from April 2008 through July 2013. Mr. Harris holds a Master of Business Administration from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University as well as a Bachelor of the Arts from Willamette University, majoring in Computer Science.

Mr. Herrera joined the Oregon’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) as Debt and Financial Analysis Program Manager in November 2021. He is responsible for managing and overseeing the structuring and sale of ODOT’s Highway User Tax Revenue Bond programs, in coordination of the Oregon State Treasury. Mr. Herrera oversees the Agency’s post-issuance compliance processes, and advises agency leadership across a wide range of financing matters.

Mr. Herrera previously served as a member of ODOT’s Government Relations team, and has served in project management and budgeting roles at the Oregon State Legislature. He earned his MBA from Concordia University, and his BS in Public Policy and Administration from Western Oregon University.

Nicole has over 20 years of accounting, budgeting and finance experience. She most recently was the Executive Director for Budget Development & Strategic Planning at Oregon State University. She held several roles in her time at the University, notably in the Central Budget office and In Capital Budgeting. Before working at the University, she was a Senior Auditor for the Secretary of State Audit's division

She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA)