Leo Drozdoff
Leo Drozdoff joins The Perkins Company after previously collaborating with Richard Perkins to effectively accomplish goals for their shared clients. Drozdoff’s experience includes a public service career that spans more than 25 years including serving as the Director of Nevada’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and as Chairman of Nevada’s Public Employee Benefit Program Board (PEBP). As a public servant and as a member of the private sector, Leo has been recognized by business leaders, local government officials, NGOs and tribes as a consensus builder who consistently delivers results.
Leo Drozdoff is a national and state leader in the fields of environmental protection, energy and health care. He has been heralded by Governors, Senators, Congressmen and Legislators of both parties as an effective and pragmatic leader. He has been judged by business leaders, local government officials, NGOs and tribes as a consensus builder who delivers results. His most recent public sector experience includes serving as Director of Nevada’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and as Chairman of Nevada’s Public Employee Benefit Program Board (PEBP). As the most senior member of Governor Brian Sandoval’s Cabinet upon his retirement in 2016, Leo directed an agency with a $160 Million operating budget which consisted of over 900 employees. Major agencies within the Department are: Environmental Protection, Water Resources (State Engineer), Forestry, State Parks, State Lands and Historic Preservation (SHPO).
As the DCNR Director, Leo was responsible for the development and implementation of policy and leading staff to meet executive and legislative goals for the betterment of the citizens of Nevada. In this capacity, Leo negotiated Lake Tahoe legislation that resulted in a bi-State regional plan which included matching legislation in Nevada and California, negotiated a management and financial commitment agreement between the State of the Nevada and the Department of Energy (that agreement was signed by Governor Brian Sandoval and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz), secured a $1.1 Billion judgement while working with the Department of Justice and EPA to ensure the clean-up of perchlorate in Southern Nevada and the Colorado River System, and led a government streamlining project that resulted in returning DCNR to 2005 spending levels, a reduction of full time employees and the elimination of over 20 outdated regulations, among other accomplishments.
As Chairman of the PEBP Board from 2011 until 2016, Leo and the Board provided direction and oversight to an executive agency that provides health insurance and other benefits to 30,000 public employees, retirees and their families. Under his leadership and facing insolvency and unprecedented losses during the Great Recession, the Board fundamentally transformed the program to a high deductible health plan with health savings accounts, giving public employees greater choice and predictability in their health care decisions as well as the ability to save money tax free for many years, maintained a less than 1% yearly cost increase of the health plans over a four year period while national medical inflation rose more than 40%, and he also led the Board’s efforts to successfully integrate the requirements of the Affordable Care Act into the Nevada program.
In addition to serving as Director of DCNR and Chairman of the PEBP Board, Leo has 30 years of highly recognized experience in the public and private sectors. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University and an MBA with a management focus from the University of Nevada. He is a licensed civil engineer in the State of Nevada.