February 20, 2025

Sound Transit

Sound Transit has announced that Victoria Baecher Wassmer and Hughey Newsome have joined the agency to lead the Finance and Business Administration (FBA) Department. Wassmer assumes the role of deputy CEO — Finance and Business Administration, and Newsome takes on the position of chief financial officer, reporting to Wassmer. 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. Wassmer holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government and is also a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. Newsome comes to Sound Transit from Piston Group, an automotive manufacturer focused on electrification, where he was CFO. Newsome also served as CFO for both county and city governments, where he led successful bond financing initiatives and credit rating improvements. Newsome graduated from Harvard’s Business School with a Master of Business Administration and has a Master of Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford University. He graduated from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. 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.