Kristen Monaco

Kristen Monaco is the Chief Data Officer and Director, Office of Economics at the Surface Transportation Board. She was appointed to the CDO role in April 2024.

As CDO, Monaco helps ensure the Board’s compliance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 and the Federal Data Strategy. She has overseen updates to the Board’s Data Governance Committee Charter.

Before joining the STB in early 2024, Monaco was Chief Economist for the Federal Maritime Commission. Previously, she served for seven years at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, first as a senior research economist and later as Associate Commissioner of Compensation and Working Conditions.  She also was labor economist in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs at the U.S. Department of Labor. Prior to joining the federal workforce, she was a professor at California State University, Long Beach, where she was also Director, Master of Arts in Global Logistics.

Monaco has a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Public Affairs and Economics from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee