Deputy Administrator for Administration
The Deputy Administrator for Administration directs, coordinates and controls matters of administration within the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA).
Directors of these offices assist the deputy administrator:
The deputy administrator is indirectly responsible for coordinating legal, policy and research, and communications matters.
Deputy Administrator Lisa (Betty) Conners, CPA
Betty Conners began her role in an acting capacity in October 2016 and became permanent a few months later. Prior, she spent 10 years as the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) director of finance, then became deputy director. She has been with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) for more than 25 years.
Earlier, she worked for public accounting firms performing financial audits. Her clients included governmental entities, among them the State of Maryland and MDOT.
Betty learned how MDOT and SHA functioned fiscally during these eight years as an auditor. When she joined MDOT SHA, she continued providing recommendations and fiscal advice as an internal consultant to help improve financial and fiscal performance, and accountability.
She has applied the technical knowledge and expertise she gained in auditing and finance to improve the performance and accountability of these administrative functions. She ensures that offices are organized properly, have functioning and streamlined business processes, produce accurate periodic performance metrics to measure and monitor, and strive to do better for their customers.
Betty is currently leading an MDOT SHA-wide initiative, Organizational Modernization, which is focused on how MDOT SHA should be organized now and in the future to take on our rapidly changing transportation environment.
During her career with MDOT SHA, Betty has led major efforts, including MDOT SHA’s conversion to the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) and MDOT’s conversion to an electronic time entry system (mTrack). She led the financial plan workgroups for two mega-projects, the InterCounty Connector and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, both requiring adherence to Federal Highway Administration standards as federally authorized projects. Both projects were delivered on time and on budget.
Betty graduated from the MDOT SHA Advance Leadership Program in 2005. She led a financial reporting and accounting subcommittee under the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standing Committee on Finance and Administration (SCOFA). She graduated from Loyola University in Maryland and became a Certified Public Accountant.