Currently a senior analyst at the Government Accountability Office, Jennifer Echard—also known as “the congressional watchdog.” GAO supports the US Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities, and helps improve the performance and accountability of the US federal government for the benefit of the American people.

Jennifer grew up in a small town in Northern New Jersey with her younger brother. Her favorite subject in high school was calculus. She was fortunate to have a wonderful math teacher who encouraged her and helped her see the beauty in numbers. After high school, Jennifer went on to earn a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Maryland.

Jennifer’s first job after graduating college was as a cost analyst for the Naval Air Systems Command. During her tenure there, Jennifer learned the art of cost estimating and earned value management. Her estimating experience was on major aircraft and missile systems.

After working at the Naval Air Systems Command for eight years, Jennifer moved over to the Navy Center for Cost Analysis. While there she started estimating large Navy automated information systems. Jennifer participated in several milestone reviews which involved creating independent cost estimates and reconciling with the program cost estimate.

In 2002, Jennifer made the move to the Government Accountability Office. At GAO, Jennifer expanded her cost estimating knowledge to include scheduling assessments. In addition, Jennifer started to work on a wide variety of commodities instead of focusing only on defense projects. After examining the cost estimating capabilities of a wide variety of government agencies, the
lack of consistent cost estimating guidance became apparent. This lack of information led to the creation of the GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide.

In her personal life, Jennifer volunteers for several organizations. She is a Sunday school teacher, the vice-president of the Parent-Teacher Association for her daughters’ school, and is a Girl Scout leader. Jennifer believes it is important to give back to your community and be a positive role model for young girls.

Jennifer always keeps in mind something her grandmother told her as a young girl, “You have to climb the mountain to appreciate the view.” This quote has inspired her to keep going through hard times, knowing that the reward will come in time.