Blake Ruiz Email & Phone Number

Redmond, Washington, United States

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

• Lead a team responsible for the budgets of several large departments and agencies of the state, which includes planning, directing, and coordinating our work.• Train and provide mentorship to analysts to develop them into successful, analytical members of the office.• Confer with state agency staff regarding expenditure trends, revenue collections, budget requests, legislative mandates, and other fiscal matters.• Research current and proposed law, rules, and regulations and infer their impacts on state agencies.• Interpret complex financial data into meaningful data for leadership to facilitate better decision making.• Develop budget models to track and forecast expenses related to operations, personnel expenses, capital expenditures, and other financial activities.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Area

• Maintained a comprehensive database containing historical records of past operating expenses, current budgets, and future estimates.• Analyzed financial data to identify trends, recommend corrective actions when necessary, and provide guidance on budgeting decisions.• Monitored operational performance against planned goals and objectives.• Annually reviewed and tracked legislative instruments as they advanced through the Legislative process, including the drafting of amendments, and providing executive summaries of the instruments.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

• Monitored program expenditures and budget adjustments that state agencies periodically submit to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget throughout the fiscal year.• Testified before the Legislature on various topics, including, but not limited to, the Governor’s Executive Budget, Louisiana Revised Statutes, and other fiscal matters.• Prepared reports for Legislators and the public to help explain state fiscal matters.• Researched fiscal data from state information systems, including SAP BusinessObjects.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

• Served as part of a team responsible for maintaining and troubleshooting computer network systems used for secure information distribution.• Supervised approximately sixty technical support operators, including the training of technical skills and protocols followed in the workplace.• Assisted network administrators with operational issues, such as initiating system maintenance.• Created and amended code for content presentation and system features, of which utilized HTML and JavaScript.• Maintained secure web pages and intelligence presentation on Oracle Content Management servers, including urgent requests during high profile events.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

• Provided account assistance in a high-volume call center for users of secure systems, including several Federal Bureau of Investigation systems and the National Center for Disaster Fraud.• Provided advanced technical support, including issues such as TCP/IP connectivity, hardware configuration, and port configuration.• Served as a team leader, acting as the resource for technical knowledge and as the evaluator for other Technical Support Operators.

Masters Of Public Administration

Relevant coursework: Program Evaluation, Financial Management, Public Finance, Organizational Analysis, Statistical Analysis.

Bachelors Of Arts, Business, Communication Studies, Sociology

Activities and Societies: LSU Residential Hall Association, 4-H Club, Service Learning, LSU Residential Hall Damage and Advisory Board.