Carolyn W. Colvin began her public service career in Maryland with U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes in 1982. Her distinguished public service career includes positions as Deputy Commissioner of Administration for the Baltimore City Health Department (1984 - 1988), Secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Resources (1989 - 1994), Presidential Appointee at the Social Security Administration holding the following positions, Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs (1994-1998) and Deputy Commissioner for Operations (1998 - 2001). Upon leaving the Social Security Administration she accepted the positions of Director of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (2003 - 2007) and then the Special Assistant to Secretary of the Department of Transportation (2009 – 2010).
In 2010, Ms. Colvin was asked by President Barrack Obama to serve as the Principal Deputy Commissioner of Social Security which she gladly accepted. Ms. Colvin was confirmed December 2010. On February 14, 2013, Ms. Colvin became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security and served under President Obama’s Administration until January 2017.
Ms. Colvin is passionate and committed to the mission, ideals, and principles of the Social Security Administration, especially in serving our nation’s most vulnerable populations – the aged, disabled, survivors, children, and those with limited income and resources. It is her pledged dedication to this essential mission that drew her from retirement to return to the Social Security Administration in January 2024 to work with Commissioner Martin O’Malley.
On November 30, 2024, Ms. Colvin was designated by President Biden as the Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
Ms. Colvin has spent more than 40 years as a senior executive, leading Federal, State, county, and city organizations through development, change and innovation. In addition to her role as Acting Commissioner leading a workforce comprised of more than 63,000 individuals, Ms. Colvin served as a member of the Social Security Board of Trustees.
Her dedication to others’ welfare also extends to her current or prior membership in organizations such as Leadership Maryland, Morgan State University Alumni Association, the National Academy of Social Insurance, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. She was also named as a National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) fellow.
She is known for promoting the competence and abilities of all, extending herself personally to encourage and aid others as they pursue their professional objectives and reach their full potential. In recognition of her commitment to the state of Maryland she has been honored with such awards as the Sun Magazine’s 50 Women to Watch (2014), the Innovations in Aging Award (Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia Departments of Aging 2012), Maryland’s Top 100 Women (2005) and the Women of Achievement Award (Suburban Maryland Business & Professional Women 2005).
Ms. Colvin received her undergraduate, graduate and Honorary Doctorate degrees in Business Administration from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ms. Colvin has one son, five grandchildren and one great-grandson. She was born in Arnold, Maryland, Ms. Colvin currently resides in Odenton, Maryland.