The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announces two leadership changes, which were confirmed by the Public Safety Commission (PSC) during its meeting today at DPS Headquarters.
“The Finance and IT Divisions are critical to the vitality and efficiency of this department,” said DPS Colonel Freeman F. Martin. “Without these divisions, we simply cannot do the work we need to do across this state, so I am thrilled with these appointments, and I look forward to seeing the tremendous work these individuals will do in the years ahead.”
The following personnel were appointed:
Vanessa Mayo, Chief, Finance Division (Pictured Top Left)
Vanessa Mayo began her career in state service with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) in 2005 as an auditor in the Austin area. Over the years, she held various positions across the state, including quality assurance, regional compliance supervisor and deputy chief financial officer. In 2015, Mayo was promoted to chief financial officer at TABC, where she oversaw the budget, accounting, revenue, purchasing, contracting and more. During her time at TABC, she completed four Legislative Appropriation Requests, one Strategic Fiscal Review, two agency-wide IT initiatives and implemented CAPPS-Financials. In May 2022, Mayo joined DPS as an assistant chief of the Finance Division, overseeing accounting functions. During her first period with Finance, she implemented an automated travel solution for DPS. In May 2024, Mayo transferred to the Regulatory Services Division of DPS as assistant chief, where she has played a key role in managing the department’s Texas Compassionate Use Program.
Mayo earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in international business from the University of Texas at El Paso. She has been a certified fraud examiner for 13 years, graduated from the Texas Fiscal Officers’ Academy and completed the Governor’s Executive Development Program.
Mayo takes over for former Chief Suzy Whittenton, who retired in September.
John Kelley, Assistant Chief, Information Technology Division (Pictured Top Right)
John Kelley is a seasoned technology leader with more than 20 years of experience in the manufacturing, oil and gas, healthcare and government industries. He most recently served as director of IT infrastructure – system services at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHS), where he led a team of approximately 150 IT professionals supporting enterprise-scale operations for hundreds of thousands of users statewide and approximately 50,000 internal users. While at HHS, Kelley also served as contact center technology manager, director of health and specialty care support and director of collaboration and mobility. He has also held roles at Baylor Scott & White Health and ExxonMobil.
Kelley holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications engineering technology from Texas A&M University.
