#WomenAtCPA: Lisa Craven

CPA’s Deputy Comptroller and Chief of Staff Lisa Craven may have two job titles, but she has one vision – to leave the agency in a better place than when she started in 2015.

Craven was no stranger to state government, getting her first brush with politics in the Capitol building as a tour guide under the wing of longtime Senate secretary Betty King – one of her first mentors. After graduating with a communications degree from the University of Texas-Austin, Craven served on the staffs of several elected officials, working mostly on natural resources issues.

She joined Glenn Hegar’s team as his chief of staff and legislative director in 2007 when he was a state senator. After he was elected to his first term as Comptroller, she moved with him to CPA to become his chief of staff.

Mike Reissig was deputy comptroller at the time and mentored Craven as she learned the position that now oversees 11 direct reports. When Reissig retired, Comptroller Hegar assigned deputy comptroller duties to her.

Grateful for those who played a part in her rise to leadership, the 2022 Outstanding Women in Texas Government Award recipient is focusing on succession planning and launching the agency’s Leadership Institute.

“I like helping people get their start and seeing them grow and feel fulfilled in their careers,” she says, drawing inspiration from the positive influence mentors had on her two daughters – her greatest achievements – as they embarked on their professional journeys.

She never imagined her path would take her to a tax agency. Maintaining perspective on the size and scope of the agency’s mission has been the biggest challenge along the way.

“The state of Texas is so big … and the agency does so many diverse things that it is hard to set overarching policies that are a ‘one size fits all,’” she explains. “You have to set a general policy and then allow it to be tailored to each division.”

The vision she shares with Comptroller Hegar to make the agency a better place serves as guide in leading an agency of nearly 3,000 employees.

“Part of that, we believe, is empowering people to make good decisions and then backing them up on their decisions,” she says, proud of the agency’s 2020 Top Workplaces Award from the Austin-American Statesman.

Communication is a key component. Craven has shared more than 150 agencywide Friday emails and was instrumental in the launch of the Connect @CPA employee newsletter.

“We do these things because people want to know how they fit into the bigger picture – how does what they do every day advance the cause of CPA and serve the state of Texas,” she says. “We are all in the boat together and rowing.”

Striving for work-life balance, she enjoys cooking Grandma’s spaghetti sauce, watching football and spending time outdoors with her family in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.