Lester Kao
Director – CohnReznick Advisory LLC
Lester Kao advises public and private entities on a range of issues including infrastructure management, funding, and finance; collaborative/alternative/public-private partnership (P3) project delivery strategies; asset and operational decarbonization; target operating model (TOM)/governance deployment; program management office (PMO) and procurement excellence; and risk management and mitigation strategies. With more than a decade of experience, Lester is committed to helping clients transform their organizations and projects.
Experience and credentials
Multidisciplinary skillset spans across the capital program lifecycle with industry expertise including transportation, aviation, mobility, ports/logistics, energy, water, higher education, healthcare, social infrastructure, and government
Scope of services includes project structuring, financial planning, operating model transformation, risk mitigation, governance optimization, PMO and procurement excellence, and asset decarbonization
Previously worked in the infrastructure capital projects advisory practice for a Big Four firm, leading initiatives encompassing risk assessment and mitigation, asset value-for-money, global capital projects best practices, and artificial intelligence adoption
Leverages robust data science and analysis to enhance stakeholder understanding and decision making for large-scale capital projects
Combines extensive project finance, data analysis, and strategy and operations experience to deliver value and actionable insights to organizations
Additional prior experience includes working for a leading civil engineering firm overseeing capital program strategy and excellence
Additional public sector service experience for a major West Coast seaport and aviation authority
Education
Master of Public Policy – Harvard University
B.A., Economics – Johns Hopkins University
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