State of california filing compliance bureau franchise tax board

Betty T. Yee

State Controller
Chair, Franchise Tax Board

State Controller Betty T. Yee was elected in November 2014, following two terms of service on the California Board of Equalization. As Controller, she continues to serve the Board as its fifth voting member.

Ms. Yee was first elected to the Board of Equalization in 2006 where she represented 21 counties in northern and central California. She was elected to her second four-year term in 2010.

Now serving as the state’s chief fiscal officer, Ms. Yee also chairs the Franchise Tax Board and serves as a member of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Boards. These two boards have a combined portfolio of nearly $500 billion.  Ms. Yee also serves on the Ceres Board of Directors, a nonprofit organization working to mobilize many of the world’s largest investors to advance global sustainability and take stronger action on climate change.

Ms. Yee serves on dozens of boards and commissions with authority ranging from land management to crime victim compensation. As a member of the State Lands Commission (and chairperson in even-numbered years), she helps provide stewardship of public-trust lands, waterways, industrial wharves, marine terminals, pipelines, and resources through economic development, protection, preservation, and restoration consistent with the state’s environmental needs.  The development and extraction of oil, gas, and geothermal resources are part of the Commission’s purview, as well.  Through other financing authorities, Ms. Yee is dedicated to creating incentives that will increase the number of affordable housing units in California, given that demand consistently outpaces supply.

Ms. Yee has over 30 years of experience in public service, specializing in state and local finance and tax policy. Ms. Yee previously served as Chief Deputy Director for Budget with the California Department of Finance where she led the development of the Governor’s Budget, negotiations with the Legislature and key budget stakeholders, and fiscal analyses of legislation on behalf of the Administration.  Prior to this, she served in senior staff positions for several fiscal and policy committees in both houses of the California State Legislature. She also cofounded the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project, which exposes California high school youth to the public service, public policy, and political arenas.

A native of San Francisco, Ms. Yee received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and she holds a master’s degree in public administration.

For more information about the State Controller’s Office, visit sco.ca.gov

Joe Stephenshaw

Director of Finance

Joe Stephenshaw was appointed as Director of the California Department of Finance by Governor Newsom in July of 2022. In this role, he serves as the Governor’s Chief Fiscal Policy Advisor. Prior to his appointment, Stephenshaw served in Governor Newsom’s Office as a Senior Counselor on Infrastructure and Fiscal Affairs.

Stephenshaw was Staff Director for the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee from 2017 to 2022. He held multiple positions in the California Legislature from 2008 to 2017, including serving as a Policy Consultant in the Office of the Senate President pro Tempore, a Special Advisor to the Speaker of the Assembly, and as a Budget Consultant for both the Assembly Budget Committee and the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. Stephenshaw was a Budget Analyst for the California Department of Finance from 2005 to 2008.

Stephenshaw is a graduate of Menlo College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University, Sacramento.

For more information about the Department of Finance, visit dof.ca.gov

The Honorable Malia M. Cohen

Member, California State Board of Equalization

Malia, M. Cohen, a native San Franciscan and a product of the San Francisco Unified public school system, is a rising star and nationally recognized policy maker.

She serves as a Member of the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), California’s elected tax commission. Elected to the Board of Equalization in November 2018, she was the first African American woman to serve on the Board and as Chair of the Board in its 142-year history.

As the BOE Board Member for District 2, she represents 10 million constituents from as far north as Del Norte County to as for south of Santa Barbara County. Her district is home to the ancient redwoods, the wine industry in Napa County, the innovation capitol of the world in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, and the beautiful and breathtaking Pacific Coast.

Last year, she accepted San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s appointment to the City and County of San Francisco’s Police Commission. She currently serves as the President of the Commission and is the right leader during this equity moment in the City’s history.

Prior to being elected to the Board of Equalization, Board Member Cohen served as President of the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Fisk University, a historically Black university in Nashville, Tennessee, and a Masters in Science in Public Policy & Management from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

She and her husband, Attorney Warren A. Pulley, reside in San Francisco. They are the proud parents of their daughter, Madison Victoria Pulley.

Selvi Stanislaus

Executive Officer

Selvi Stanislaus was appointed Executive Officer of the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) on January 11, 2006.

As FTB’s fourth executive officer and the first woman to hold the post, Selvi oversees the second-largest tax department in the nation, with more than 6,000 employees in California and its three out-of-state offices.

During her time at FTB, Selvi’s achievements include:

• Increased development of a positive workplace culture that has made FTB a destination employer,
• Successful launch of the Enterprise Data to Revenue (EDR) Project, a technology upgrade that modernized and improved how FTB does business, and
• Several awards, including the Public Sector Partners’ Project Leadership Award in 2014, which recognized her for EDR; the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) State Technology Innovator Award in 2013, for leadership aimed at improving citizen service, information sharing, and good government; and Public Administrator of the Year in 2013 from the Sacramento Chapter of the American Society of Public Administrators, for excellence in public management over a sustained period of time.

After graduation from the Sri Lanka Law College as an attorney at law, Selvi worked in the private sector, and thereafter in the Chambers of Sri Lanka's President's Counsel.

After establishing herself in Sri Lanka, Selvi and her husband chose to pursue the vast opportunities in the United States. They immigrated to California in 1986, where Selvi returned to law school, completing a J.D. degree with Honors and an LL.M. degree in tax law. After another period in the private sector, she joined the State Board of Equalization's legal staff in 1996, to pursue her passion in tax law. In April 2005, Selvi was appointed the Acting Assistant Chief Counsel of the Tax and Fee Programs Division of the Legal Department at BOE.

In her spare time, Selvi is actively involved in doing pro bono work in Northern California's large East Asian community. She is also a part-time professor at a local law school and local universities, where she teaches tax law.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams

Rachael Bruce

Chief, Audit Division

Rachael Bruce is FTB’s Chief of the Audit Division.

Rachael plans, evaluates, budgets, and develops policies for the division and its programs, including the Criminal Investigations program.

Rachael has been with FTB since 1991. Her extensive knowledge of audit programs came from serving as the Individual and Pass-Through-Entity (IPTE) Bureau Director and managing and working in several audit business areas for 26 years. Her experience covers personal income tax, pass-through entities, federal audits, audit policy, protest resolution, financial operations, and human resource activities for audit.

Rachael is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from California State University, Sacramento.

Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss, you’re still among stars.

Les Brown

Jozel Brunett

Chief, Legal Counsel

Jozel Brunett is FTBs Chief Counsel.

The Chief Counsel provides advice and counsel to the department with respect to tax matters in protest, appeals, bankruptcy, and settlement cases, the department's legislative program, tax forms, contracts, and general counsel matters, as well as the department's nontax programs. The Chief Counsel oversees the Legal Division attorneys who assist the Attorney General in court with respect to refund litigation cases, represent the department in personnel matters before the State Personnel Board, Victim's Compensation and Government Claims Board cases and other administrative proceedings, issue legal rulings and public notices, and who are responsible for the department's regulation program.

Jozel started her career at FTB in 1994, as a Tax Counsel. She has extensive experience in representing the FTB in Board of Equalization appeal hearings. She has actively participated in various key department and interagency teams. In her most recent assignment as Assistant Chief Counsel of the Tax Administration and Procedure Bureau, she represented and provided guidance to the department with respect to administrative and procedural law issues. Before joining FTB, Jozel worked in a private business litigation practice for seven years.

Jozel is a graduate of California State University, Chico with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Davis, School of Law.

The time is always right to do what is right.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jennifer Fowler

Chief, Accounts Receivable

Jennifer Fowler is Chief of the Accounts Receivable Management Division.

Jennifer is responsible for collection program policy and operations for delinquent business and personal income tax. The division also collects various nontax debts referred from other departments including certain court-ordered fines, fees, restitution orders, and delinquent vehicle registration.

Jennifer has worked for FTB since 1988. She began her career in the filing program. Since then she has held a variety of positions in the Filing and Accounts Receivable Management (ARM) Divisions. She has led and managed large collection programs. She directed the recovery of delinquent business entity taxes, personal income taxes, and all nontax debts (referred from 400 state and local agencies). ARM collects more than $3.4 billion and $578 million annually for the tax and nontax programs respectively.

Jennifer graduated from the California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) Leadership for Government Executives. She continues to pursue her Organizational Communication Bachelor of Arts degree from CSUS.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

African Proverb

Jeanne Harriman

Chief Financial Officer

Jeanne Harriman is FTB’s Chief Financial Officer and the Chief of the Finance and Executive Services Division.

As chief of FTB’s Financial and Executive Services Division, Jeanne oversees FTB’s financial, legislative, statistical research, procurement, enterprise planning, risk management, and project oversight activities, and works with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that FTB optimizes our resources and operations.

Jeanne has worked for FTB since 1989. She began her career in the audit program and conducted audits in the field and from Central Office for any taxpayer type (individual or business entity), worked on protest cases, and lead review and support activities for Audit Division staff and lead numerous visionary projects. In 2009, Jeanne transitioned to the Finance and Executive Services Division and began overseeing FTB’s budget function and focused on enhancing enterprise wide operations by optimizing FTB resources. In 2014, Jeanne began serving as Division Chief of the Financial and Executive Services Division and continues to work closely with our external and internal stakeholders to provide diverse and key support services to ensure FTB’s operations are optimized and FTB can successfully implement new workloads supporting the Administration’s and Legislature’s key policy goals.

Jeanne has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and a Master’s Degree in Taxation from California State University, Sacramento. Jeanne also is a Certified Public Accountant.

Make each day your masterpiece. Do the best you can. You can’t do anything about yesterday. The future depends on how you prepare yourself today.

John Wooden

Carol D. Williams

Chief, Administrative Services

Carol D. Williams is Chief of the Administrative Services Division.

As chief of Franchise Tax Board’s Administrative Services Division, Carol oversees all aspects of the human resource, internal audit, communications, executive and advocate services, equal employment opportunity office, organizational development and talent management, taxpayers’ rights advocate and privacy and security programs.

Carol started her career with FTB in 1992, as a tax auditor. Since that time she has held a variety of positions in the Audit, Filing, and Accounts Receivable Management Divisions. Carol has led and managed large projects including the development and expansion of e-services focusing on self-service applications for individual and business taxpayers, Court-Ordered Debt Statewide Expansion project and the department's successful Tax Amnesty project generating over $700 million.

Carol earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from San Francisco State University.

Kindness eases change. Love quiets fear.

Octavia Butler

Nadean Shavor

Chief Information Officer

Nadean Shavor is the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

As chief of FTB's Technology Services Division, Nadean leads a division of over 1,000 IT professionals responsible for the applications, systems, and services used to support the department’s current and future business needs. She establishes IT direction, sets policy in consensus with the Governance Council, and helps develop long-term strategies while making sure technology is best used to meet those strategic objectives. Nadean provides oversight to ensure the effective deployment of technology, including the Enterprise Data to Revenue 2 Project.

Nadean has been with FTB for more than twenty-five years, including 17 years in leadership roles. Prior to her CIO role, she served as FTB’s Chief Security Officer. In this role, she managed the physical security of FTB’s central office campus and twelve field offices, cyber security, and the Privacy and Disclosure Programs. In addition, she was the Agency Information Security Officer (AISO) for Government Operations Agency where she developed state-wide cyber security strategies and policies. Nadean’s previous roles in the Technology Services Division include managing FTB’s Data Center and other information technology systems and applications such as: external Internet, call center platform, human resource systems, the intranet, and three major compliance systems, in addition to several smaller systems.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

Colin Powell

Roger Lackey

Chief, Filing Services

Roger is responsible for filing program policy and operations that includes processing individual and business entity tax returns and payments, administering the withholding program, detecting and preventing tax return refund fraud, identification of non-filers, and providing customer service to the public. In this role, Roger is leading the development and expansion of e- services and focusing on self-service applications for individual and business taxpayers.

Roger has over 32 years of Franchise Tax Board (FTB) experience beginning his career as a Tax Program Assistant in the Audit Division before later becoming an analyst and manager in the Legislative Services Bureau. In 2005, Roger participated in the department’s first management rotation program where he joined the Processing Services Bureau (PSB) in the Filing Division. Since that time, Roger has held a variety of leadership positions across the Filing Division including in the Filing Compliance Bureau, the Filing Services Bureau, and most recently nine years as the director of the Processing Services Bureau. Roger has led and managed a number of large projects including pipeline modernization efforts (EDR), improved refund and payment services, and most recently he led the successful implementation of Golden State Stimulus I and II serving over 11.4 million Californians. Roger is known for his operational knowledge of FTB processes and operations and his leadership in building collaborative teams to succeed in serving taxpayers and California.

Roger has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from California State University Sacramento and is a graduate of the Intergovernmental Management Program and the Executive Assessment and Development Program (EADP).