Maria Cheeks
Department of the Treasury
2020 fellow
Maria Cheeks is an innovative and results-oriented public servant with over 28 years in tax administration and policy implementation at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She has dedicated her career to serve taxpayers. As Assistant Director of Tax Forms and Publication, Maria oversaw the nation’s portfolio of tax forms for all business and individuals and implemented the largest tax reform in over 30 years as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Maria also served as Director of Online Engagement and Media Operations for the Office of Online Services (OLS), where she shaped IRS’ service-wide digital and customer experience and oversaw the content management and operations of IRS.gov. Most recently she completed her role as Assistant Field Director of the Cincinnati Submission Processing Center, where she oversaw the closure of the largest IRS business return processing site, migrating its operations to two other centers and successfully placing the centers’ 1600 employees.
Maria has leveraged her expertise in strategic planning, analytical research, project management, and federal multilingual and diversity policies into a people-focused approach that has helped her deliver superior outcomes in the most challenging of circumstances. She was awarded the IRS Commissioner Award for Excellence for the key role she played in the redesign two of the most recognized and utilized tax products - Forms 1040 and W-4.
A graduate of Regis College, Maria holds dual degrees in Communication and French. At the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer in the White House Office of Management and Budget, Maria’s focus is on the Shared Quality Services CAP Goal.
