MARY ELIZABETH HEFFERNAN, Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Governor Deval L. Patrick appointed Mary Elizabeth Heffernan as the Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (“EOPSS”) in December of 2009. Prior to being appointed as Secretary, she served as Undersecretary of Criminal Justice at EOPSS since January of 2007. In that capacity, Ms. Heffernan oversaw the Department of Correction, the Massachusetts Parole Board, the Sex Offender Registry Board, and acted as Liaison to the Massachusetts Sheriffs. Secretary Heffernan comes to EOPSS with more than 20 years of criminal justice and governmental affairs experience. Most recently, she served as the Associate General Counsel and Director of Intergovernmental and Regulatory Affairs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She has also served as the Corporate Director of Government Relations for CareGroup Health Care Systems, the Executive Director for the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, an Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County, and in a wide array of other public and private sector legal and governmental positions. Undersecretary Heffernan is a member of the Framingham State College Board of Trustees (her alma mater), and she is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School and Suffolk University School of Management, where she received her Masters in Public Administration. She lives in West Roxbury with her two children.