Sound Transit today (Feb. 18, 2025) announced that Victoria Baecher Wassmer and Hughey Newsome have joined the agency to lead the Finance & Business Administration (FBA) Department. Wassmer assumes the role of Deputy CEO – Finance & Business Administration, and Newsome takes on the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), reporting to Wassmer. The two will work together to ensure the agency can affordably deliver the voter-approved transit system expansion program.
Wassmer most recently worked as Assistant Secretary/Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she led the budget, finance, risk, evaluation and performance administration through the implementation of the largest infrastructure program in U.S. history. She has extensive financial leadership experience that spans federal, state and regional agencies, and a comprehensive understanding of both the funding mechanisms and implementation of capital projects.
Newsome comes to Sound Transit from Piston Group, an automotive manufacturing company focused on electrification, where he was CFO. His strong base of experience includes strategic financial management and administrative oversight to ensure the financial health of a variety of large organizations. Newsome also has a track record of municipal finance leadership, including serving as CFO for both county and city governments, where he led successful bond financing initiatives and credit rating improvements.
“We are thrilled to bring on two deeply skilled and experienced leaders to steer Sound Transit through this complex economic and financial environment,” said Interim CEO Goran Sparrman. “Victoria and Hughey’s demonstrated success with organizational transformation and their shared commitment to Sound Transit’s values position them to be a fantastic team to join the agency’s leadership.”
Wassmer will oversee a newly restructured Finance & Business Administration Department, which Newsome will join as a direct report. The team includes Finance, Information Technology, Procurement, Contracts and Agreements, Administrative Services, and Business Transformation. In her role as Deputy CEO, Wassmer will also be a member of the agency’s leadership Cabinet.
Wassmer holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government and is also a proud graduate of Bryn Mawr College (BA). Newsome graduated from Harvard’s Business School with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and has a Master of Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville (BSEE).
Sound Transit builds and operates regional transit services for growing urban areas of Washington’s Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties. The district comprises more than 50 cities and more than 40 percent of the state’s residents, who have authorized the most ambitious transit expansion in the nation.
Sound Transit’s next Link light rail extension is slated to open to Downtown Redmond on May 10, followed by connections across Lake Washington later this year and to Federal Way in 2026.
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