Barbara Sauers, NHTSA’s Associate Administrator for Regional Operations and Program Delivery, oversees the agency’s 10 regional offices and NHTSA’s grant management and operations office. Her team is responsible for a significant portion of NHTSA’s budget, which is provided to State Highway Safety Offices to advance traffic safety across the country. States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, territories, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs use the funds to implement evidence-based, data-driven highway safety programs to address traffic safety concerns.
Over the course of Sauers’s 35-year career at NHTSA, which started with an internship, she has held a variety of positions and led many initiatives. Most recently, she led the development of NHTSA’s first national field operations safety strategy including a technical assistance program to assist states in addressing an alarming rise in traffic deaths that began at the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Prior to her current position, Sauers served as the director of the agency’s grants management and operations office, where she led enhancements to improve NHTSA’s grants oversight and compliance program. Her work at NHTSA has also included safety countermeasures, addressing impaired driving, communications and outreach.
Sauers holds a bachelor’s degree in health education from Towson State University and a master’s degree in policy sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.