As the Tribal Consultation Official of the Social Security Administration, Renee Ferguson is both diligent in addressing the needs of the tribal communities and committed to improving government to government relationships.

Renee became Director for the Office of Native American Partnerships in April 2024 after serving as the Acting Deputy Director in 2023. She served as the Deputy Associate Commissioner for the Social Security Administration in 2021-2023, and the Assistant Regional Commissioner for Management and Operations Support (Executive) for the Social Security Administration’s Dallas Regional Office in 2015- 2021. Renee trained under the previous Tribal Consultation Official, Nancy Berryhill, and developed numerous innovative products for tribal communities and continues today to provide the bi-annual Tribal Benefit Coordinator guide.

Renee began her career with the Social Security Administration as an Actuary in the Office of Short-Range Actuarial Estimates within the Office of the Chief Actuary. Throughout her distinguished career with Social Security, she has held many positions prior to her Executive Service including Deputy Director, Mathematical Statistician, Chair of one of the Agency Disclosure Review Boards, and Social Insurance Specialist for the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy.

Renee was selected to the Senior Executive Service Candidate Leadership Development Program in December 2014 and successfully completed her program in 2016 when she was appointed to the Senior Executive Service. As part of her SES assignments, Renee worked for the Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Office of Earnings and International Operations of the Social Security Administration.

Renee obtained her master’s degree in mathematical science, specializing in Actuarial Science and a graduate certificate in Business Administration. Renee is a 2015 Graduate of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in addition to completing the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ (OIRA) Exchange and Training program in 2011 in the Statistical and Science Policy branch (SSP) for the Obama Administration. For SSP, Renee promoted the quality, integrity, and objectivity of Federal statistical and scientific information upon which both public and private decisions are based by providing government-wide coordination, guidance, and oversight. Of particular interest, Renee worked in facilitating interagency efforts to address long-standing barriers to statistical uses of Federal and State agency administrative records and increasing interagency sharing of statistical protocols and tools to create efficiencies and synergies in our decentralized statistical system.

Renee has been the recipient of many agency awards including a Commissioner’s Citation and a Deputy Commissioner’s Citation. Her work and achievements consistently demonstrate professional excellence, exceptional leadership, integrity, and commitment to public service. A native of Muskogee, Oklahoma, Renee’s family are enrolled members of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She resides only a few hours south of many Tribal Nations of Oklahoma, with her husband and son at their residence in Texas near the Social Security Dallas Regional Office.