Larisa Benson

Larisa Benson
Deputy for Statewide Performance Review
Washington State Auditor’s Office
MPA, University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs, 2002

Areas of Specialization:
Leadership, Performance Measures, Budgeting and Negotiation

Larissa Benson is the deputy of statewide performance review for the Washington State Auditor’s Office. She teaches courses through the Evans School Cascade Executive Programs on performance measures, accountability, results orientation, performance leadership, and performance management. Prior to this work, Benson served on the Evans School faculty teaching core courses in public management and budget and finance. She is also a founder and co-director of the Evans School Executive Master of Public Administration (Executive MPA) program.

Prior to her current position with the Washington State Auditor’s Office, she served as the director of Government Management Accountability and Performance for the Washington State Office of the Governor from 2005-09. In this position, she was responsible for Governor Chris Gregoire’s signature management initiative focused on improving the results of state government by melding an intensive focus on performance measurement with priority-based budgeting.

Benson also served as the chief architect of the City of Seattle’s results-based budgeting initiative while working with the city’s budget office. The initiative included strategic plans for 30 city departments and the integration of performance measures into the city budget and performance evaluations of department directors. During her time with the City of Seattle, Benson also helped create the city’s Labor-Management Leadership Committee, served as an instructor-trainer for the city’s employee involvement program, and was the staff lead for the Seattle City Council’s selection of a new city-wide financial management system.

Other roles Benson has played in the public sector include negotiator for the Seattle School District during contract bargaining with the teacher’s union, executive director of the Seattle Aquarium Society during the creation of a new master plan that shifted the governance of the aquarium from the public to nonprofit sector, and trusted policy advisor to local elected officials. She also serves on several boards of directors for nonprofit agencies in the Seattle area.

Benson holds a Master of Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.